hankyoreh

By Kim Min-kyung　
　The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has announced plans to pass an amendment to the enforcement ordinance of an elementary, middle and high school law. The proposed amendment would place limits on students as hairstyles and clothing. This has prompted some to ask whether the MEST is attempting to neutralize the student human rights ordinances in Seoul and Gwangju, which prevent school rules from restricting hairstyles.
　In the “partial amendment” to the enforcement ordinance, sent by the MEST to municipal and provincial education offices, new categories of “student appearance, including hairstyle and clothing” and “school life, including examination of student possessions necessary for educational purposes and the use of electronic devices” have been created. The amendment also included items such as reaching agreement among students, parents and teachers when creating or amending school rules, and the authority of the Minister of Education, Science and Technology to decide upon methods of gathering opinion when creating or amending school rules.
　The student human rights ordinances already in force in Seoul and Gwangju guarantee freedom of hairstyle by banning the inclusion of hair-related clauses from school rules. “Student human rights ordinances permit hairstyle freedom, but the enforcement ordinance allows the creation of school rules that limit hairstyles,” said Yun Myeong-hwa, a member of Seoul Metropolitan Council‘s education committee. “The MEST is amending the enforcement ordinance, a higher-ranking law than the human rights ordinance, in order to neutralize the human rights ordinance.”
　Municipal and provincial offices of education that are enforcing human rights ordinances are also flustered. “The enforcement ordinance amendment stipulates that school rules be decided reflecting the opinions of students, teachers and parents, but [rules] could include content placing limits on hairstyles, contrary to the human rights ordinance, by reflecting the opinions of teachers and parents against hairstyle freedom,” said one educational office official. Another education office official pointed out, “The enforcement ordinance was changed last year, then the school rules were changed again according to the human rights ordinance; if the MEST amends the enforcement ordinance again, it will cause confusion in schools.”
　In response, a MEST official said, “We are attempting to change the enforcement ordinance according to one of the policies against school violence, in which members of schools participated. This is in order to eliminate confusion in schools due to difficulty in leadership following the [introduction of] human rights ordinances. If the enforcement ordinance is amended, [human rights] ordinances will also have to be amended accordingly.”
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