By Kim Bo-eun
Schools and education offices across the nation will establish committees to better protect teachers’ rights, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday.
The Lee Myung-bak administration approved the measure during a Cabinet meeting.
It aims to restore the authority of teachers amid increased cases of assaults on them by students and parents.
The number of attacks increased from 1,570 in 2009 to 2,226 in 2010 to 4,801 in 2011. The figure was 4,482 for just the first half of last year.
In September 2012, a fifth grade elementary school student punched a female teacher in the face and in July last year, a parent of a fifth grader physically assaulted a homeroom teacher for scolding the child.
Conservatives have pointed out that the lack of respect for teachers has been aggravated due to expanded students’ rights.
The students’ rights ordinance, enacted in early 2012, triggered a strong backlash from teachers at the time. Drawn up by the former liberal chief of the Seoul education office, it prohibits corporal punishment and checks on students’ belongings, among other measures.
The education ministry has denied any link between the new measure and the ordinance.
“The revised bill has nothing to do with the students’ rights ordinance. It was made to establish infrastructure to protect teachers against assault as they have little power to defend themselves,” said a ministry official.
The Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ group, welcomed the move.
"It has been difficult for teachers to take legal action against students and parents in cases in which their authority was violated, through students cursing, physical assaults and sexual harassment," it said in a statement, Tuesday.
"The revision in regulations regarding respect for teachers will boost morale and protect their teaching activities, which will in turn benefit students as they will be able to learn in a stable environment."
The measure upgrades the existing committee on managing conflicts at schools to include preventative measures against the infringement of teachers’ authority as well as providing guidance for misbehaving students.
The committees will be comprised not only of teachers but also of parents and figures in the local community, in order to more effectively settle conflicts between teachers and students.
The committees will also be set up at city and provincial education offices to manage conflicts which couldn’t be settled at schools.
They will comprise of city and provincial councilors, teachers, education experts and parents as well as lawyers.
Superintendents of education offices will be required to set up policies to protect teachers’ rights, so that they can focus on teaching.
The policies will include establishing specialized institutions and organizations, as well as providing therapy for teachers who have been physically or verbally attacked by students. It will also include the right to investigate cases in which teachers’ rights were infringed upon.
However, a parents’ association was critical of the measure.
“I agree that teachers should be respected but it shouldn’t limit students’ rights,” said Park Bum-yi, vice-chairwoman of the National Association of Parents for Charm Education.
“Students deserve equal respect. And teachers should not become overly authoritative,” she said.