44 Cases of Child Abuse and Violence in Seodang-type Educational Facilities... Majority Unregistered

Violence Occurred at 5 Locations... Perpetrators Referred to Police for Investigation
28 Cases of Child Abuse and 15 Cases of Student Violence Among 44 Incidents
External Activities Cannot Be Listed in Personal Statements Starting from 2024 Academic Year

On the 6th, the Ministry of Education held the 20th meeting of the Education Trust Recovery Promotion Team (hereinafter referred to as the Promotion Team).

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Following a violent incident at a Seodang (traditional Korean village school) in Hadong, Gyeongnam, a nationwide inspection of dormitory-style educational facilities in the form of Seodang revealed 44 cases of child abuse and violence among students.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Education held the 20th Education Trust Recovery Promotion Team (hereafter, the Promotion Team) meeting to discuss ▲ the inspection results of dormitory-style educational facilities in the form of Seodang ▲ the status of implementation of measures to strengthen fairness in college admissions ▲ and solutions to resolve comprehensive audits of 94 private universities that have not yet been audited.

Most Seodang-type Educational Facilities Unregistered... Abuse and Violence Occurred in 5 Locations

The Ministry of Education’s inspection of dormitory-style educational facilities in the form of Seodang found that out of 18 nationwide locations, only 12 were in operation. Only 5 were officially registered as educational or youth facilities. The remaining 7 operated without registration.

The investigation found a total of 44 cases of violence. By type, there were ▲ 28 cases of child abuse ▲ 15 cases of violence among students ▲ and 1 case of violence among out-of-school youth. There were 46 victims and 36 perpetrators in total. Among the perpetrators, 6 were facility workers. Abuse and violence occurred in 5 facilities.

A Ministry of Education official explained, "We have requested police investigations into the perpetrators of child abuse and have taken measures such as prosecution. We plan to support counseling and other assistance for the victimized children in connection with child protection agencies."

In the case of the Seodang in Hadong, Gyeongnam, where violence and abuse occurred, it was operated as both an academy and an unlicensed facility. The problematic facility was registered as an unlicensed facility. A Ministry of Education official said, "The academy part of the problematic Seodang has now been closed, and the worker was registered as a private tutor but is currently under police investigation."

Regarding violence among students, the affiliated schools investigated the incidents, and the principals either resolved the issues internally or held school violence countermeasure committees. Counseling and psychological treatment were provided to the victims through WeClass, WeCenter, and Youth Counseling Welfare Centers, while educational and corrective measures were implemented for the perpetrators.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye stated, "We are supporting counseling and psychological treatment for the victimized children in connection with child protection agencies, and we will continue to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, metropolitan and provincial offices of education, and others to eliminate blind spots where violence occurs."

From 2024 Academic Year, Extracurricular Activities Excluded from Personal Statements... Seoul’s Major Universities to Select 40% via CSAT

The Ministry of Education has mandated that from the 2024 academic year, extracurricular activities outside the regular curriculum?such as club activities, gifted and invention education achievements, awards, and volunteer work?should not be included in personal statements for college admissions. The common format for personal statements has been guided since the 2022 academic year, reducing the length from 5,000 to 3,100 characters, and teacher recommendation letters have been abolished.

Sixteen major universities in Seoul have decided to operate at least 40% of their 2023 college admissions through regular admissions based on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). These universities include Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Sogang University, University of Seoul, Korea University, Seoul Women’s University, Hanyang University, Yonsei University, Konkuk University, Dongguk University, Sungkyunkwan University, Kyung Hee University, Soongsil University, Kwangwoon University, Sookmyung Women’s University, Chung-Ang University, and Seoul National University.

To legislate social integration admissions, revisions to the Higher Education Act are underway, and efforts are being made to encourage expansion of this admission type by reflecting it in evaluation indicators for financial support projects. The selection ratio for social integration admissions increased from 13.3% in the 2020 academic year to 15.8% in the 2023 academic year.

For 94 private universities that have not undergone comprehensive audits, the Ministry plans to complete audits by the end of 2026, starting from 2022. Comprehensive audits of large private universities with enrollments of 6,000 or more will be completed by the end of this year. For 181 private universities and 13 graduate and distance universities that have already undergone comprehensive audits, accounting audits will be conducted for 10 universities annually.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said, "The fairness of the college admissions system is the area of greatest public interest and is key to restoring trust in education. We will expedite the implementation of remaining tasks to strengthen fairness in college admissions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.