13 child representatives deliver policy resolution to heads of health and education committees, urging legislation to ease academic burden and guarantee children's right to rest

Students salute the national flag at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Republic of Korea Children's Assembly held at the National Assembly members' office building in August. [Yonhap]
Students salute the national flag at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Republic of Korea Children's Assembly held at the National Assembly members' office building in August. [Yonhap]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Monday that child representatives from the Republic of Korea Children's Assembly had delivered a policy resolution — adopted at the 23rd Republic of Korea Children's Assembly held in August — to the chairs of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee and Education Committee.

The handover ceremony was organized to ensure that children's proposals — including guaranteeing their right to participate, easing academic burdens and protecting their right to rest — are reflected in actual legislation and government policy.

On Monday, 13 child representatives met separately with Education Committee Chair Kim Hee-jung and Health and Welfare Committee Chair Lee Man-hee, explaining the key proposals and intent behind the resolution and urging both lawmakers to take an active interest in ensuring children's voices are meaningfully incorporated into the lawmaking and policymaking process.

Following the delivery to the legislature, the resolution will also be formally reported to the government to strengthen its impact.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to present the resolution to the Child Policy Coordination Committee — chaired by the prime minister and composed of cabinet ministers — during the fourth quarter of this year, requesting pan-government cooperation and policy action.

The ministry, together with the National Child Rights Center and the Korea Children's Organizations Council, held the 23rd Republic of Korea Children's Assembly from Aug. 4 to 6 at the National Assembly members' office building conference hall and the International Youth Center. The event was held under the theme "Academic Burden and Children's Rights" with the slogan "Less Academic Burden, More Children's Health."

More than 110 child representatives who took part shared their struggles with excessive academic pressure and adopted a resolution calling for a range of policy improvements to support children's healthy development — including expanding experiential learning, guaranteeing the right to rest and strengthening psychological counseling systems to ease academic stress.

The Korea Children's Organizations Council, which has run the Children's Assembly since 2004, also operates a "Republic of Korea Children's Assembly Monitoring Team" to strengthen follow-through on the resolution.

The monitoring team, made up of about 40 children, plans to track implementation of the resolution from October of this year through June next year and to continually urge the central and local governments to follow through. The monitoring results will be announced at the following year's Children's Assembly opening ceremony.

Health and Welfare Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said the policy resolution, developed and proposed by the children themselves, "is an answer to what adults must do to genuinely change children's lives." She added, "We will ensure that the children's vivid voices do not stop at mere proposals but lead to legislative action by the National Assembly and policy adoption by the government, so that children can grow up healthy."

Kim Yu-im, head of the National Child Rights Center, said she hopes the child representatives' proposals to reduce academic burdens and protect children's health will lead to discussions in the National Assembly and the government. "The National Child Rights Center will monitor the implementation process and support the activities of the child representatives to ensure the resolution translates into real change," Kim said.

Oh Jun, chair of the Korea Children's Organizations Council, called the resolution "a precious voice showing what needs to change in children's lives, arrived at through the children's own deliberation and proposals." Oh expressed hope that the handover ceremony would serve as an opportunity not merely to listen to children's opinions but to translate them into actual legislation and policy.


thlee@heraldcorp.com