Gyeonggi Province liberalizes student regulations

The student human rights ordinance includes S.Korea’s first ban on corporal punishment

» A collection of photos, provided by the students’ rights organization Internet Virus, shows bruises and scars from corporal punishment at South Korean schools. By Hong Yong-duk, Senior staff writer A “student human rights ordinance” including a complete ban on corporal punishment for elementary, middle, and high school students and liberalization of student hairstyles has been established for Gyeonggi Province. Revolutionary changes are expected in Korean school culture, as Gyeonggi is first of the nation’s 16 metropolitan and provincial offices of education to establish an ordinance spelling out the ban on student corporal punishment, which has been a customary practice in schools.

Read the entire article. There are other changes as well that are long overdue, including fewer restrictions on hair style, expulsion of pregnant students, and forced attendance at religious events.