A petition calling for the enactment of the so-called "True Education Act" on the National Assembly's public consent petition board [National Assembly e-Petition website]
A petition calling for the enactment of the so-called "True Education Act" on the National Assembly's public consent petition board [National Assembly e-Petition website]

A middle school teacher has filed a public consent petition with the National Assembly calling for the enactment of a bill — dubbed the "True Education Act" — that would significantly expand teachers' authority to manage student behavior, drawing attention from the education community.

The petition, posted on the National Assembly's public consent petition board, seeks legislation to protect teachers' rights and guarantee their educational activities. It has drawn more than 1,000 signatures since going public.

The core of the proposed law is to block undue interference and malicious complaints from parents and others, while establishing a legal basis to ensure that a teacher's legitimate disciplinary guidance is not treated as emotional child abuse.

The bill would also expand teachers' authority to take educational action against students who repeatedly disrupt class, and restrict curriculum-, instruction- and assessment-related complaints so they can only be handled through the school's official procedures — not directed at individual teachers.

A particularly notable provision is the strengthening of teachers' direct disciplinary authority. Under the current system, student separation and attendance suspension must be carried out in the name of the school principal. The proposed bill would allow teachers, under certain conditions, to directly impose up to two hours of after-school guidance or a one-day attendance suspension.

Kim Yong-wan, 36, the teacher behind the petition, said he drew on models such as teacher disciplinary authority in the US state of California and Finland's after-school guidance system, adapting them to fit South Korea's educational reality. "Legal reinforcement is urgently needed to create classrooms where both students' right to learn and teachers' right to teach are protected," he said.

Kim said the problem goes beyond individual teachers, with repeated situations in which other students' right to learn is also being infringed. "I wanted to bring classroom issues into public discourse and build broad public understanding," he said.

The petition had gathered more than 1,100 signatures as of Friday. To be formally received and referred to a National Assembly standing committee, it must collect 50,000 signatures within 30 days of going public.

While the education community broadly agrees on the need to protect teachers' rights and strengthen their disciplinary authority, some have raised concerns about the potential for abuse if teachers are given direct power to impose attendance suspensions.

Some also worried that the bill's name implied it would permit corporal punishment, but Kim said he personally opposes corporal punishment. "What the bill calls for is not physical punishment but educational guidance," he said.

A Ministry of Education official said the ministry's position remains unchanged: to embed the educational activity protection system in schools on the basis of mutual respect, trust and cooperation among school members, and to strengthen teacher rights protection in collaboration with provincial and metropolitan education offices.


bbo@heraldcorp.com