Students Disrupting Class to Be 'Immediately Separated'... Ministry of Education Notice Applies to Schools Starting Today

Added 'Guardian Handover' for Learning Rights Violation
Specific Standards for Kindergarten Teacher Protection
Guidebook Distribution and School Rules Revision Planned

From the 1st, the Ministry of Education will apply the 'Notice on Teachers' Student Life Guidance' and the 'Notice on the Protection of Educational Activities of Kindergarten Teachers' to the educational field to establish teachers' authority and protect students' right to learn.

According to the Ministry of Education on the day, after comprehensively reviewing 727 opinions submitted during the administrative notice and consultation period with related organizations, the two notices were finalized and promulgated.

The Notice on Teachers' Student Life Guidance additionally reflected the field's demand that in cases where students continuously disrupt classes and infringe on other students' right to learn, 'handover to guardians' is necessary within the minimum scope. Also, following the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission regarding concerns that protective gear for special education students may infringe on human rights, the relevant provision was deleted, reflecting opinions from the field and related organizations.

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Previously, the Ministry of Education announced that the notice would include provisions allowing elementary and secondary school teachers to separate and store items, physically restrain, or separate students (inside or outside the classroom) when class disruption by students occurs. In particular, students who do not adhere to the principle of prohibiting mobile phone use during class can be warned or have their phones separated and stored.

Additionally, the Notice on the Protection of Educational Activities of Kindergarten Teachers applied field opinions requesting the specification of standards for protecting kindergarten teachers' educational activities by newly establishing provisions related to the responsibilities of the three parties involved in counseling and education, clarifying the scope and methods of life guidance.

The Ministry of Education plans to support schools by producing and distributing an explanatory booklet containing precautions and reference examples for field application within this month. Furthermore, each school level will be required to complete the revision of school regulations by October 31 to ensure that matters delegated by the notice to be stipulated in school regulations are reflected. Temporarily, school principals will be allowed to establish and operate a 'Special Operation Plan on School Regulations.'

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, stated, “The Ministry of Education will continue to make every effort to protect teachers' legitimate educational activities so that teachers in the field can engage in educational activities with peace of mind and actively.”

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