Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Seoul's top educator urges expulsion of girls in cheating scandal
By Kim Rahn
The regional education authority in Seoul has called on Sookmyung Girls' High School to take stern disciplinary action against a teacher who was arrested for helping his twin daughters attending the same school cheat on their exams.
It also asked the school to expel the twins, nullify their grades and reassess grades of all other students there.
“I'll ensure Sookmyung will expel the girls and conduct a grade reassessment immediately,” Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), said in a statement, Tuesday, a day after the police investigation confirmed their cheating.
The head of a private school has the authority to expel a student and reassess grades, and the school foundation has the right to discipline its teachers.
“The father should also face heavy disciplinary measures such as dismissal,” Cho said.
He also promised that a parent would not be allowed to teach at the same school their children attend. For public schools, the SMOE will send teacher parents to other schools before the next year's spring semester begins. For private schools, it will actively recommend the school authorities send such teachers to other schools within the school foundation.
According to the SMOE, 116 teachers at 79 middle and high schools had children attending the same schools as of August.