Seoul student rights ordinance survives repeal bid; superintendent says student and teacher rights 'not in conflict'

The Seoul Metropolitan Council has rejected a bill to abolish the Seoul Student Rights Ordinance after a reconsideration vote, leaving the existing ordinance in force.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education welcomed the outcome Tuesday, after the council's first plenary session of its 339th extraordinary session voted down the bill — which Superintendent of Education Jeong Geun-sik had sent back for reconsideration.

The council had originally passed the repeal bill at a plenary session on Dec. 16 last year. The office responded by requesting reconsideration on Jan. 5 under the Local Education Autonomy Act.

In its reconsideration request, the office argued that the student rights ordinance provides the institutional foundation for realizing students' basic rights — as guaranteed by the Constitution and education-related laws — within schools, and that abolishing it would weaken the rights-remedy system, including counseling and investigations conducted through the student rights ombudsman.

With the repeal bill now defeated, the ordinance remains intact. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education maintains that student rights and teachers' rights and legitimate educational activities should not be seen as opposing values.

In a statement released Tuesday, Superintendent Jeong said he was gratified that the student rights ordinance — which has concretely guaranteed students' basic rights in schools — would continue to serve that role. "Protecting students' human rights and safeguarding teachers' rights and legitimate educational activities are by no means conflicting values," he said.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it plans to build on the ordinance's existing achievements while updating related policies to reflect changes in the educational environment and the needs of schools. The office aims to guarantee students' rights while protecting teachers' rights and legitimate educational activities, and to more clearly define the rights and responsibilities of all members of the school community — students, teachers and parents.

The office also said it would establish a school-based human rights protection framework in which prevention, education, rights remedies, conflict mediation and relationship restoration all function together. As part of that process, it plans to continue consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Council on improving related policies.

"I hope this decision marks a new starting point for Seoul education to move forward, beyond the long-running disputes and divisions surrounding the student rights ordinance," Jeong said. "We will build schools where students, teachers and parents are all treated with respect."