Cho Hee-yeon: "Oh Se-hoon's Mixed Ordinance is a Variant of the Student Rights Ordinance Abolition"

Cho Hee-yeon, Seoul Superintendent of Education CBS Radio Interview
"Exemption Clause Needed in Child Abuse Punishment Act to Protect Teachers"

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "I firmly oppose the abolition of the Student Human Rights Ordinance."

Superintendent Cho appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 3rd and said, "We must create a community school that respects student human rights, respects teachers' educational rights, and also respects parents' right to participate."

Regarding Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's proposal to combine the student human rights and teachers' rights into a single education ordinance, he pointed out, "The idea of creating a mixed ordinance presupposes the abolition of the (Student Human Rights Ordinance)," adding, "It felt like a disguised statement for abolition."

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is announcing the priority measures to strengthen the 'Protection of Teachers' Educational Activities' on the 2nd at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the death of a new teacher at Seo-i Elementary School in Seoul, he said, "We are interviewing many teachers to approach the comprehensive truth, so that the police investigation can be conducted thoroughly," and announced that the joint investigation results by the Ministry of Education and the Metropolitan Office of Education will be released around next week.

When asked if malicious complaints from parents were the main cause of the Seo-i Elementary School incident, Superintendent Cho responded, "It seems that there is some degree of connection to certain malicious complaints from (some) parents," and added, "It is very important to normalize the abnormal behavior of some parents who incessantly verbally abuse over their children's issues day and night and visit the principal's office to question the teachers' qualifications."

Earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education introduced a pilot system requiring parents to make appointments to meet or call teachers as a measure to protect teachers, and decided to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) in the waiting rooms for complainants at schools that request it. Regarding this, Superintendent Cho explained, "You can think of it as establishing an official procedure against complaints that are immediately hurled as verbal abuse, whether in the principal's office or even through teachers' phones."

However, there are criticisms that such measures do not prevent contact between malicious complainants and teachers themselves. Superintendent Cho said, "When malicious complaints occur, we are creating a strict process and procedural system to handle them, and this is a pilot project," adding, "Since CCTV could infringe on human rights, the pilot will consider human rights aspects and whether consent is required."

He continued, "The most important thing now is to add an exemption clause under the Child Abuse Punishment Act," and said, "If such a law is enacted, malicious complaints will significantly decrease, and sanctions will be possible when malicious complaints are made."

Furthermore, Superintendent Cho urged the National Assembly to amend the Child Abuse Punishment Act. He said, "Originally, the focus was on child abuse in the home, but since it is indiscriminately applied to the relationship between teachers and students in the school setting, problems arise," and added, "Teachers need to conduct legitimate educational activities or discipline, but this is being defined as abuse."

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