By Lee Kyung-min
The Ministry of Education is under mounting criticism for paying students employed at the World Education Forum 2015 held in Incheon less than the minimum wage on a daily basis.
According to the forum organizer and Bak Hong-geun of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, Sunday, the ministry paid 20,000 won ($18) daily to 141 college students who each worked for up to seven hours a day during last month’s forum, which had a budget of 4.5 billion won.
The current minimum wage in Korea is 5,580 won an hour.
Along with the payment, the ministry offered the students certificates recognizing their participation in the event and the number of hours they worked.
Such low pay comes amid controversy about “passion pay,” a term coined to describe a practice where employers do not offer due payment to interns and apprentices but only exploit their “passion” to get jobs amid high youth unemployment.
A ministry official in charge of managing the students during the forum said the payment was higher than that for similar events held the previous year.
“We held a similar event last year, and the payment was 10,000 won then. We took that into consideration when setting the payment with the Incheon Metropolitan Government, a co-organizer,” the official said.
“Other than the cash payment, we provided them with lunch, beverages, and places to stay including amenities,” she added.
She admitted that the payment was lower than the minimum wage, but said the students wanted the certificates more than the money. “The students knew in advance that they would receive 20,000 won per day. We also have to organize the event within a set budget. We did the best we could,” she said.
When asked if the due amount will be paid when a similar event is held next time, she said she had no idea.
The low payment was against ongoing efforts by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to fight against such exploitative practices.
“It was improper for the education ministry to offer lower-than-minimum-wage payment to the students in the name of voluntary work, while the government is urging employers to abide by the minimum wage rules,” Rep. Bak said.