Immediate Separation of Students Violating Teachers' Rights from Teachers... "No Need for Sick Leave Anymore"

Nine Education-Related Bills Passed in Plenary Session
Unified Management System for National University Hospitals
Stable Meal Provision and Consigned Student Health Checkups

From now on, if a student commits a serious violation of teachers' rights, the school principal will be able to promptly take measures such as suspension from attendance to protect teachers. In addition, student health checkups will be conducted by the National Health Insurance Service on a consignment basis, which is expected to reduce the burden on schools.

Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations. Yonhap News Agency

On January 29, the Ministry of Education announced that the National Assembly plenary session had passed amendments to nine laws under its jurisdiction, including the School Health Act and the Act on the Status and Rights of Teachers.

First, the revised School Health Act, scheduled to take effect on March 1 next year, stipulates that student health checkups will be conducted by the National Health Insurance Service on a consignment basis. As a result, students will be able to undergo health checkups at any institution of their choice at any time throughout the year, and the results will be integrated and managed in connection with infant, child, and general health checkups.

There have been calls for improvement due to the administrative burden on schools in selecting checkup institutions, as well as the inconvenience for students and parents who were previously required to use only the institutions designated by the school.

In addition, the special law for improving the status of teachers and protecting educational activities has been amended to strengthen teacher protection. Previously, before a decision was made by the regional committee for the protection of teachers' rights, it was difficult to separate the teacher who was the victim from the student who violated educational activities, so the teacher had to use personal leave or sick leave.

With this amendment, even before the committee's decision, the school principal will be able to take measures such as school service, special education or psychological therapy, suspension from attendance, or class reassignment for students who have committed serious violations of educational activities such as assault or sexual violence. This law will take effect immediately upon promulgation.

This will enable the immediate separation of the affected teacher and the student who committed the violation even before the committee's decision. It is expected to reduce the unreasonable situation where teachers have to use personal or sick leave, and consequently decrease the infringement of students' right to learn.

The Special Act on Income-Contingent Student Loans has also been amended to expand educational and welfare support for young people. The implementation date is July 1.

Previously, interest exemption for income-contingent student loans was provided only to borrowers with a median income of 100% or less (student financial support level 5 or below). However, with this amendment, interest exemption will be expanded to borrowers with a median income of 130% or less (student financial support level 6 or below). Interest exemption will apply during enrollment, and the limitation on the interest exemption period has been removed.

The National University Hospital Establishment Act and the National University Dental Hospital Establishment Act have also been amended to unify the management system of national university hospitals.

The amendments transfer the supervisory authority for national university (dental) hospitals from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and specify the autonomy of national university (dental) hospitals as educational institutions. The aim is to foster national university hospitals as regional base hospitals and to strengthen the virtuous cycle of education, research, and medical care, thereby enhancing public healthcare.

The Higher Education Act and the Local University Promotion Act have also been amended to establish a legal foundation for the Local Innovation-led University Support System (RISE). By specifying the organization of support committees and performance evaluations related to RISE, this amendment is expected to ensure the stability of the RISE system and strengthen cooperation between local governments and universities.

Finally, the School Meals Act has been amended to ensure stable meal provision. The amendment introduces the definition of school meal workers and requires the implementation of policies to protect their health and safety.

The amendments also stipulate the establishment of basic and implementation plans for school meals, the placement of at least two nutrition teachers at schools above a certain size, and the establishment of standards for the appropriate number of students per meal service.

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