In 2021, the Jeonbuk Office of Education's Student Rights Review Committee ruled that a teacher's actions, known as the 'Red Card Incident', were a violation of student rights.
However, on December 4th, the Jeonbuk Human Rights Center of the Jeonbuk Office of Education, led by Seo Geo-seok, made a decision stating that it was not a violation of human rights. This was not a reconsideration, but merely a statement of opinion. Teachers' organizations welcomed this stance, arguing that 'despite the Supreme Court's ruling that parents violated teachers' rights, the parents in question are proceeding with a civil lawsuit based on the decision of the Human Rights Center at the time.'
In response, a parent, referred to as Parent A, refuted this by saying, 'The Jeonbuk Office of Education claims to have expressed its opinion based on the provisions of the ordinance, but this is not meant to express an opinion as if the president is exercising veto power over the review decision. It is no different from the anti-human rights actions of the Seo Geo-seok Jeonbuk Office of Education trying to erase the values of student rights in Jeonbuk education that the previous superintendent had built up, just as the Yoon Seok-yeol government has tried to erase the policies and values of the Moon Jae-in government.'
As pointed out by the parent, the same issue was decided differently depending on the time of the Moon Jae-in government and the Yoon Seok-yeol government, and depending on the time of Superintendent Seo Geo-seok and the previous superintendent.
The Jeonbuk Office of Education under Superintendent Kim Seung-hwan recommended 'special human rights education for violating the dignity and rest rights of elementary school students by operating a demerit system and making students who received demerits clean after school,' and recommended 'measures to prevent recurrence as the method of life guidance that operates a demerit system for lower-grade students and restricts the body to a specific posture can cause damage such as lowering student self-esteem and maladjustment to school life.'
On the contrary, the Jeonbuk Office of Education under Seo Geo-seok indicted the parents as 'malicious complainants', and the Jeonbuk Teachers' Union exerted organizational pressure.
Indeed, the court at the time of the Moon Jae-in government decided that it was a violation of student rights and that the parents did not violate teachers' rights. However, the Supreme Court during the Yoon Seok-yeol government overturned the decision of the High Court and decided it as a 'legitimate educational activity.'
In 2021, the decision of the Student Rights Review Committee was a careful and fair judgment considering the pain of the victimized students, and the Jeonbuk Office of Education under Seo Geo-seok overturned this with a decision disguised as an opinion, causing secondary damage to students and parents and undermining the value of student rights.
This has set a dangerous precedent of advocating for the protection of teachers' rights, even for teachers' anti-human rights behavior.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has proposed a bill to guarantee student rights and is urging measures to protect student rights, while regional teachers' unions, including the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, are expressing opposition.
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