By Han Sang-hee
Non-permanent instructors paid on an hourly basis at universities will see their job security strengthened and wages raised following the passage of a revised education bill at a Cabinet meeting, Tuesday.
According to the revised rule, schools are now obliged to abolish the hourly instructor system and guarantee them “teacher status,” the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.
Tens of thousands of instructors, who have been ill-treated by most universities, have over the years demanded better treatment from the government and schools. These instructors are responsible for teaching one third of the classes at universities yet are paid lower insufficient wages and suffer unstable job security.
The contract period for part-time instructors will be extended to at least a year from the original six months, or one semester, and schools will be restricted from firing and forcing them to quit, the ministry said.
More than 94 percent of university instructors were hired under contracts lasting less than six months.
Instructors will be considered a faculty member as a change in the categorization of the teaching staff will be applied which originally listed professor, associate professor, assistant professor and full-time instructor.
Thus, when hiring an instructor, schools must treat them like any other faculty member.
The ministry has secured an 80.5 billion won ($71 million) budget and raised the hourly rate to 60,000 won this year from last year’s 42,500 won. The hourly pay for instructors working at national universities will rise in phases ― to 70,000 won in 2012 and 80,000 won in 2013.
1 | Korean firms balk at donating to fund compensating victims of Japan's forced labor |
![[INTERVIEW] Retired FSC chief finds inspiration exploring Koreans' ancestral roots](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/6642af4d9fed4cae8a8a951eedbbaa6f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'The Flag': Kwon Jin-ah's love letter to people chasing their dreams](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/286500d853334c96ab51e56d74fe38f2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
