KTU statement on the recent disciplinary actions taken by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development

1. As education policies shape both present reality and future opportunities of students and the nation, these policies must be implemented only after careful, considered, and comprehensive discussion. As hurried and ill-considered policies have the potential to harm public education in Korea, organizations involved in education must attempt to reach a consensus. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development developed a teacher evaluation system without input from teachers, and now intends to implement this system in 500 schools. As the proposed evaluation system is based on logics of competition and efficiency, many educators remain critical of the system and express concern about the impact it will have on education communities.

2. The ministry is penalizing 430 teachers who joined an assembly that publicly protested the imposition of the teacher evaluation system, the "piece rate" system, and the new pension system. This form of "collective punishment" is the first to be imposed since the founding of JeonGyoJo (KTU) in 1989. This disciplinary action is both unfair and illegal. Teachers joined the assembly after they had applied for a holiday. Teachers are allowed by law to apply for ten to twenty holidays a year, and those who joined the assembly had rescheduled their classes, so that there would be no disruption of school operations; however, principals collectively refused to approve the holiday. Principals have no right to base decisions for approval on what a teacher's plans for the holiday might be, but rather on the effect the holiday will have on school operations. Whether teachers choose to attend an assembly is a choice that teachers alone may make.

3. The Teacher Union Law bans collective action. Union members do not have the right to strike, but are permitted to assemble, organize discussion forums, run signature campaigns, and hold news conferences or one-person demonstrations; these actions are recognized by law. It is normal for teachers to take holidays, and during the holiday teachers should be free to decide what they will do with time away from the workplace. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is attempting to restrain the activities of the teachers union, which must be considered unfair labor practice.

4. The ministry is basing financial penalties on the number of assemblies teachers have participated in since 2001. The ministry claims that last year's assembly is the "standard" and that prior assemblies are to be used for "reference" so that the amount of the fine imposed is based on the number of assemblies in which teachers have participated since 2001. As penalties for participation in assemblies were imposed on union members in 2004, the ministry is openly violating the principle of one punishment for one act.

5. On January 25th, when the disciplinary committees of district education offices convened, committee members refused teachers the right to submit full and public statements to the committees. Teachers were refused the right to respond to charges with a number of tactics, which included police intimidation and the summary dismissal of committees while teachers were delivering statements. These actions caused teachers a great deal of stress. Where penalties were imposed without due consideration of teacher responses, such penalties must be considered invalid.

6. The union considers the proposed teacher evaluation system a cynical ploy on the part of the Ministry of Education to scapegoat teachers for education policies and priorities that continue to fail both students and teachers.

2007.01.31
Korean Teachers Union (Hwang Hyun-su)

Read Education International's letter of protest to President Roh here

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