According to the JoongAng Ilbo, corporal punishment is to be phased out in Gyeonggi-do schools.
In Gyeonggi, students who were to receive corporal punishment will instead receive “knowledge and virtue-based punishments,” such as writing book reports, completing community service projects or doing extra assignments.
They’re also to be phased out in Seoul schools as well, but no concrete steps have been taken in this direction. This is interesting:
Examination of students’ belongings without prior notice, regulation of hair length, verbal abuse and school violence will be prohibited. The teacher’s duty to monitor students’ dress code and conduct of behavior at school gates will be removed. Measures will be taken to raise awareness of student rights and student councils will be given greater autonomy.
Regulation of students’ appearances has been relaxing for some time now, but not everywhere. A Korean friend of mine who teaches at a private high school in Gangseo-gu told me his school has become more strict over the past year due to the pronouncements of his principal, who has hired a roving band of enforcers who, instead of checking students at the gate, enter classrooms – while a class is in progress – and check students’ hair and clothes, cutting their hair on the spot if it is deemed too long.
He’s pretty pissed about this, wondering if they’re “living under yusin” (the name of Park Chung-hee’s dictatorial constitution under which he ruled from 1972-79) again. One wonders this would change if Seoul adopts these measures, or if it will mostly continue with business as usual (with the hope that students won’t be videoing any ‘lapses’).
Also on the topic of education, via Korea Beat comes a story of a girl who posted a notice that she had quit university, not wanting to be a part of the rat race (much like the student seen here who protested taking the university entrance exam).
You can read the original post at Gusts of Popular Feeling.
