The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said on Wednesday it has advised the principal to set standards for establishing school rules and work together with students. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) — A school in Gangwon Province has come under fire after taking down a student’s poster criticizing the administration without following regular procedures.
The poster put up by a middle school student criticized the school administration for revising its code of conduct without going through the regular procedures, raising an issue of transparency. The poster was soon taken down unilaterally, drawing criticism for infringing on free speech and prompting the student to file a petition.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said on Wednesday it has advised the principal to set standards for establishing school rules and work together with students.
“Rules for posters at school should be made clear when it comes to purposes, reasons and procedures, and have to reflect students’ opinions well,” the NHRCK said.
During an investigation launched by the NHRCK, it was learned the school failed to form a special team consisting of students, student parents, teachers, and a vice-principal, a necessary procedure when making revisions according to the school’s code of conduct.
The student repeatedly contacted teachers to raise the issue of the school’s possible breach of its own code of conduct to no avail, before putting up a poster to raise awareness, the investigators learned.
In response to the criticism, the school has said, “We have been regulating content for the message boards at teacher meetings, but the poster was deemed to be inappropriate as it could sow distrust in the school’s code of conduct, which led us to take it down.”
The NHRCK says, however, that taking down a poster without going through the regular procedure was a clear breach of freedom of speech.
A school in Gangwon Province has come under fire after taking down a student’s poster criticizing the administration without following regular procedures. (Image: Yonhap)
Earlier this week, the NHRCK asked the United Nations to intervene after South Chungcheong Province’s council moved to abolish its human rights ordinance.
In a statement, the NHRCK said the abolishment of South Chungcheong Province’s human rights ordinance could be the first case of setting back the clock on human rights and could trigger similar actions from other regions.
Since last year, religious groups in the region have been pushing for the abolishment of the province’s human rights ordinance.
Hyunsu Yim (hyunsu@koreabizwire.com)
