hankyoreh

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) announced plans to discipline all 17,000 of the teachers affiliated with the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo) who participated in a statement criticizing the Lee Myung-bak administration for democracy's retreat and for driving a competition-centered education policy. In particular, MEST plans to exact heavy disciplinary measures such as firing and suspending 88 individuals who led or actively contributed to the statement, and intends to file a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office. It also plans to take light disciplinary measures, including issuing cautions and warnings for the remaining teachers, depending on their degree of participation. To put it simply, they plan to use the statement as an excuse to “exterminate” teachers who are members of the KTU for being a thorn in their side.

MEST says the teachers violated articles in the State Public Officials Act, specifically Article 56 requiring faithful execution of duties, Article 57 requiring obedience, Article 63 requiring the maintenance of decorum, and Article 66 forbidding collective actions, as well as Article 3 of the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Teachers’ Unions, forbidding political activity to justify the disciplinary measures. This latest action contradicts the preliminary examination of the laws by MEST’s Educational Associations Cooperation Team, which concluded that it was “difficult to view the Jeon Gyo Jo’s signature campaign as a violation of the State Public Officials Act and Teachers’ Union Act, as it acted within the bounds of the Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression.” This shows how MEST’s disciplinary measures are an absurd overreach. Otherwise, one has no choice but to view this as a push at the administration level to lay waste to the KTU, which has consistently attempted to throw the brakes on the Lee Myung-bak administration's competition-centered education policy.

This decision by MEST is not at all in line with the practices and fairness seen to date. Indeed, there have been almost no former instances of teachers being disciplined for issuing public statements. This case is said to be the first since the 1991 beating death of Kang Kyung-dae, in which a public security storm blew violently. Even when some 9,000 KTU teachers issued a statement with content far stronger than this one when the candlelight vigil demonstrations were in full swing last June, they were not disciplined. Moreover, disciplinary measures have not been taken against the thousands of university professors, who like public school teachers are subject to the provisions of the State Public Officials Act, for issuing an emergency declaration last month. Additionally, principals and the Korean Federation of Teacher’s Associations have engaged in assemblies and signature campaign from time to time, and yet there is not a single case of one of them being disciplined for it.

MEST has declared that it will “not tolerate the staining of the sanctity of the teacher's platform with political ideology,” but they should realize that the ones who are engaged in staining the teacher’s platform with politics are themselves, the ones seeking to carry out ludicrous and politically-motivated disciplinary measures. MEST should put an immediate stop to these actions, which only disgraces the Education Ministry itself, and use their power instead to save our dying schools and rein in murderous private education costs.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]