Concerns are growing over the recent infringement of teacher’s rights in various regions of Korea. On July 18th, a new teacher on her second year of teaching at an elementary school in Seocho-gu had committed suicide. Though the exact cause has not been identified, it was revealed that the teacher had continuously received malicious criticism from a parent. This raised the issue of  balance between the rights of teachers and students. 

Furthermore, with the news of a student physically assaluting a teacher in a Busan elementary school, prompted the debate of whether students are abusing their position as a minor. 

The 2010 Student Human Rights Ordinance was originally implemented to ensure the dignity and freedom of students. Promised by Gyeonggi-do’s Superintendent of Education Candidate Kim Sang-gon in 2009, the policy has been passed and administered in 2010. Opposers claim the Student Human Rights Ordinance to overemphasize the rights of students, and thus neglect that of educators. 

Reality, however, can be found in an analysis presented by the Justice Party Policy Committee on the 25th, which was executed by recording the number of teacher assault cases, out of 100s, in provinces with the Student Human Rights Ordinance. The results were as follows: 0.59 in 2017 → 0.53 in 2018 → 0.61 in 2019 → 0.27 in 2020 → 0.51 in 2021. The 5 year average from 2017 to 2021 is an infringement rate of 0.5 cases per 100 teachers each year. For districts that haven’t implemented the Student Human Rights Ordinance policy, results were as follows: 0.61 in 2017 → 0.60 in 2018 → 0.62 in 2019 → 0.29 in 2020 → 0.54 in 2021. Considering this averages out to 0.54 incidents per 100 teachers a year, the statement “Educational activities are violated due to the student human rights ordinance” seems false. 

To conclude, though the Student Human Rights Ordinance policy might not be the exact cause infringement in teacher’s rights are a serious problem, and citizens must put thought into developing a feasible solution. The government also has an obligation to expeditiously establish a course of action in defense of the issue. (Hankyoreh)

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