Seoul launches interpretation support for multicultural students in school violence cases

gettyimagesbank

An interpretation support service to assist students from multicultural backgrounds involved in school violence cases will launch this month in eastern Seoul.

The Seoul Dongbu District Office of Education announced Thursday that the program will offer interpretation in 18 languages to ensure fair and effective communication during investigations and disciplinary procedures, addressing language barriers that may hinder students’ ability to fully exercise their rights.

As of 2024, students from racially or linguistically diverse backgrounds made up 7.93 percent of the total student population in Dongdaemun and Jungnang — districts overseen by the Seoul Dongbu District Office of Education. While the overall student population in these areas is declining, the proportion of multicultural students continues to rise.

In response, the education office is formalizing and expanding its interpretation support system to better protect the rights of such multicultural students involved in school violence cases, ensuring they can fully exercise their right to make statements and defend themselves.

While similar services have been offered on a limited basis in the past, the office said that officially institutionalizing the program will make it more accessible to students in need.

The office added that the initiative is expected to not only improve the accuracy of communications during disciplinary proceedings but also promote the broader social integration of students and families from diverse backgrounds.

As part of efforts to formalize the service, the education office will sign a memorandum of understanding on Friday with local family centers in Dongdaemun and Jungnang. The goal is to establish a pool of interpreters capable of providing support in 18 languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese, as well as a diverse range of others such as Hakka, Nepali, Taiwanese, Russian, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Uzbek, Ukrainian, Indonesian, Kazakh, Khmer, Thai, Turkish and Tagalog.

Key provisions also include the assignment of interpreters to ensure fair case handling, the implementation of a recusal and avoidance system for interpreters to prevent conflicts of interest and job opportunities for migrants who have completed community interpretation training programs.

In addition, the education office is developing a standardized manual for interpreter use in school violence cases based on legal interpreter guidelines and decisions from the National Human Rights Commission.

The growing number of school violence deliberation cases in high schools nationwide underscores the importance of expanding interpretation services to ensure all students can fully participate in the disciplinary process.

According to data from the School Alert System, high schools across the country reported 7,446 deliberation cases related to school violence last year, which was a 27.6 percent increase from 2023.

Lee Mi-kyung, head of the Seoul Dongbu District Office of Education, emphasized the need for collaboration between education authorities and local communities to eliminate language barriers that hinder students' rights.

"We will actively share the results of this initiative with other education offices and strive to institutionalize the system," she said.