Support Higher Education Act / KIWA
February 14, 2010 by kimyoungkon
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From: KIWA [mailto:kiwa@kiwa.org]
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 3:18 PM
To: 'mailer@president.go.kr'
Subject: Support High Education Act
President Lee,
Bring back the status of teachers to part-time lecturers as part of the Higher Education Act in Korea National Assembly for 85,000 professors. They were deprived the status of teacher in 1977 under President Park Junghee. The revision of the Act will democratize the university and help the students to escape from the education of memorization to initiativeness, and to adapt to the society of knowledge. Some lecturers has been sitting in strikes in front of the Korea National Assembly sine Sept. 7, 2007.
SUPPORT HIGHER EDUCATION ACT
Signed,
Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance
Recovering Status for University Teachers in Korea
November 7, 2009 by kimyoungkon
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On August 12, 2009, Korea University (KU) dismissed 88 lecturers who taught on the KU campus. The teachers who were dismissed were those who had taught four or more semesters and did not possess a doctorate. One of those fired was Kim Youngkon (’68, Economics) a former lecturer who taught “The History of Labor” at KU. Kim, who could have been seen in classrooms teaching students, is now doing a one-man demonstration on the injustice of the dismissals, which nowadays is being referred to as “the massacre.” Kim had been branded a teacher “unfit” to be a lecturer. This was, of course, despite the fact that he had graduated from KU, become an executive official of the Daewoo Heavy and Chemical Industry Labor Union, and later worked as a chairperson for the National Labor Movement Organization Council, as well as wrote the publication The History and Future of Korean Labor. Regardless of his achievements, Kim can now be seen near the National Assembly building living in a blue tent, outside of which there stand numerous posters denouncing the current status of university lecturers and the injustice of the mass dismissals. Kim stated that he had started his one-man demonstration in front of the National Assembly building in 2006, and has been camping out in protest in the same place since September 7, 2007. Then why is Kim putting up with such hardships? This is because of his firm belief as a professional in the field of labor as well as his strong convictions as a labor activist. He says that even if the law for “non-regular” workers were to change, he would not be entitled to benefit from such a provision because of his age. The reason for the mass dismissal of lecturers at KU was the following policy: If a non-regular lecturer were to teach more than four semesters, he or she would have to be promoted to the status of full time lecturer. This would cost the university up to five times more for each such lecturer. The dismissals were the core incident that brought this issue to light. Such dismissals are not unique to KU. According to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) as of September 9, 1,219 lecturers have been dismissed from 112 universities because they did not possess a doctorate degree. Consequently, from the total 200 universities located in South Korea, over 2,000 lecturers are estimated to have been dismissed for the same reasons. Then what can be done to resolve this issue? “We need to democratize and normalize universities,” stated Kim. “Lecturers, who are widely recognized as having power within the classroom, actually do not have much power; we can say that they are ‘slaves’ to their owner, the head of the university. There are serious problems in the current law that regulates the status of all teachers, and the problem must be solved as soon as possible.” In 1977, the South Korean statute on the classification of school personnel was changed. According to clause 2 of Article 14 of this statute, the teaching staff of a school should only include the dean, professors, assistant professors, assistant teachers, and full-time lecturers. In legal terms, this means that “non-regular” lecturers do not have the same power or authority as other staff members at the university at which they are teaching. The two main goals Kim is currently striving to achieve are an amendment to include lecturers within the statute of official personnel and to provide better conditions for lecturers within the university. “When lecturers finally reclaim their status as teachers, this will bring about a chain reaction that will benefit all; and yes, this also includes students,” Kim stated.
From August 24 through 28 of this year, KU students had an additional period to apply for the lectures that they would take in the second semester of 2009. However, the lecturers were fired even after students had finished registering for the fired lecturers’ classes. “This action violates the students’ rights to education,” said Kim. “The students were ready to take a course, which was then abruptly taken away from them. Substantially, the mass dismissals not only violate the lecturers’ rights, but also the rights of the students. These are both rights that must be protected.” Not only that, Kim argues that these mass dismissals will lower the standards of university education. “Because lecturers do not have authority and status within the classroom, this can greatly reduce the lecturers’ responsibility to and conviction regarding the students, as well as the quality of their lectures. This may further reduce lecturer and student contact, which will make the problem even worse. University tuition is continuously increasing, but ironically, education standards have plummeted. As anyone can see, there is something wrong with this.” Despite the uncertain road that lies ahead, Kim remains convinced of the importance of his cause. “In order to solve today’s problem, the first, and most important, thing that must be done is that lecturers need to recover their status and authority as personnel at the university. And as this issue is a problem that stretches nation-wide, it must accordingly be dealt with on a national scale.” “I am currently demonstrating in front of the Grand National Party building in front of MEST headquarters, at both the Anam and Sejong KU campuses, in front of the Seoul National University headquarters, and in front of Ewha University,” said Kim. “Many others are also expected to join me as well. However, this mission cannot be completed by us only. Students must become enlightened about this problem and lend a hand to solve it. Only then can our dream be achieved.” |
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*** Please write a letter of request to rivese the Higher Education Act to the Perosns as below email Adresses, containing words of below. "Dear **** Please, help to decide the issue of the Higer Education Act in Korea National Assembly to get back the status of teacher to the 70,000 parttime lecturers of university. They were deprived the status of teacher in 1977 under President Park Junghee. The revision of Act will democratize the university and help the students to escape from the education of memorization to initiativeness, and to adapt to the scoiety of knowledge. Some lecturers has been sitting in strike in front of the Korea National Assembly sine Sept. 7, 2007."
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President of Korea University, Lee Ki-su, e-kisu@korea.ac.kr
President of Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, mailer@president.go.kr
Head of the Committee for Education and Science & Technology of Korean National Assembly, Lee Jong-kul, anyang21@hanmail.net
Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ahn Byung-man, webmaster@mest.go.kr
Head of Korean Council for University Education & President of Ewha University, Lee Bae-yong.
master@kcue.or.kr
master@ewha.ac.kr
Part-time lecturer dismissals continue at universities Universities’ application of Irregular Worker Law demonstrates need in clarifying labor status of teachers
October 21, 2009 by kimyoungkon
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| Part-time lecturer dismissals continue at universities |
| Universities’ application of Irregular Worker Law demonstrates need in clarifying labor status of teachers |
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Education ministry statistics show more than one thousand part-time lecturers at 112 universities nationwide have been dismissed this autumn semester seemingly as a result of the Irregular Worker Law that requires employers to move irregular workers into regular positions after two years. This has been met by growing calls for a system-wide solution of restoring part-time university lecturers to their teaching positions.
According to data on the situation of dismissals among part-time lecturers received Wednesday from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology by Democratic Party Lawmaker Kim Jin-pyo, a total of 1,219 dismissed part-time lecturers were reported by the 112 universities that had recently submitted data. Since these figures represent only slightly more than half the 200 universities nationwide, including education and polytechnic universities, the total number of dismissed lecturers is expected to reach several thousand. The remaining 88 universities have delayed submitting data for almost a month. Among the universities that submitted data, Hannam University appears to have dismissed the largest number of lecturers at 195, followed by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies at 124, and Daejin University at 75. Based on university type, the 80 private universities that reported data dismissed a far larger number of lecturers at 1,208, while the 32 national and public universities dismissed only eleven.
The dismissed lecturers represent those instructors who had lectured for four consecutive semesters prior to this fall term, but who do not possess doctoral degrees. Since they have been lecturing for the past two years, the required shift of irregular workers to regular positions applied in their cases. The Irregular Worker Law does not apply to those with doctoral degrees, as they are classified as specialists.
Observers are criticizing the dismissals as a “unilateral measure” taken by universities in a situation where the status of these lecturers is uncertain. “All the problems originate from the fact that a part-time lecturer has the effective status of an instructor at a university, giving lectures and evaluating students, but is not considered a member of the teaching staff,” said Pai Chai University Law Professor Kim Jong-seo.
Some of the dismissed lecturers are claiming that their status as workers was never properly guaranteed, let alone their status as teaching staff. In other words, they fall into a legal blind spot. “Part-time lecturers do not sign employment contracts and they do not receive the four major types of insurance, so they are not even recognized as workers,” says Kim Young-kon, the Korea University chapter head for the Korean Irregular Professors Union, who was fired from Korea University this semester. “It is deceptive to use the Irregular Worker Law as an excuse to fire people without putting any measures in place,” Kim suggests.
Other observers are commenting on the need to find a fundamental solution that makes the status of part-time lecturers clear. Ewha Womans University law Professor Do Jae-hyung says, “If you look at the Irregular Worker Act, there are stipulations where you could make application an exception for some persons if they are covered by another law.” “We need an alternative that clarifies the status of part-time lecturers through the Higher Education Act and Private School Act,” Do added.
Kim Dong-ae, head of the Central Struggle Committee for Restoration of University Teacher Status of University Lecturers and Normalization of University Education, emphasized, “Given that it is an issue closely connected with the quality of education received by university students, the issue of the treatment of part-time lecturers requires a fundamental solution such as the amendment of related laws.”
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr] |
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Korean Irregular Prof. 772days sitdown in front of Korean National Assembly want of status of teacher
October 15, 2009 by kimyoungkon
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Korean Irregular Prof. 772days sitdown in front of Korean National Assembly want of status of teacher
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Korean Irregular Professors want to get back the Status of Teacher on the Law of Higher Education. We Korean irregular professors want to revise the Korean Higher Education Law to get back the status of teacher. 70,000 part-time lecturers take the half of all college lectures in Korea. Non-tenure track professor are 65,000. Total number of Irregular professors are 135,000. The irregular professor have no status of teacher. Our average week lecture is 4.2 hours and average lecture fee(not wage) is under 3,500 US$ in a year, that is 5-20% of regular professor. Regular professor lecture 9 hours a week. We are not able to find any difference between regular and irregular professors in qualification, lecture and research. This is discriminative evidently. But the court said this was not discriminative in 2009 because the regular professors are in the Law of Higher Education but the irregular professors are out of boundary. Sadly 7 teachers suicided from 1998 until now. This system is originated from the policy of Dictator of Park Junghee. Before 1977 the teacher of university are professor, associate professor, assistant professor, part time lecturer but ousted part time lecturer and added full-time lecturer. Irregular Professor, Regular Professor, College Student, Parent and Citizen organized the Center to Get Back Status of Teacher for Irregular Professor and Normalization of College Education in Korea. In 17th session(2004-2008 May) of the National Assembly, the 3 parties of ruling Democratic Party and the opposition Hananra Party, Democratic Labor Party members of the National Assembly proposed 3 bills in separately to get back the status of teacher to irregular professors but wasted at last. The system of none teacher irregular professor violate the rights of teacher's study and teaching, and the right of student to learn independently and creative. We want the solidarity of worldwide professors, teachers and workers. You can send the email, letter, fax and call of help to the persons as below.
Dr. Kim Dongay, Chairwoman of the Center to Get Back Status of Teacher for Irregular Professor and Normalization of College Education. President of Korea University Lee Ki-su, e-kisu@korea.ac.kr President of Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, mailer@president.go.kr Head of the Committee for Education and Science & Technology of Korean National Assembly, Lee Jong-kul, anyang21@hanmail.net Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ahn Byung-man, webmaster@mest.go.kr Head of Korean Council for University Education & President of Ewha University, Lee Bae-yong. |
Demand for Revocation of the 88 Lecturers Laid off by Korea University.
September 4, 2009 by kimyoungkon
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Greetings.
This is the news of the demand for revocation of the 88 lecturers laid off by Korea University.
It is understood that 88 lecturers from Korea University, and 5,000-10,000 lecturers in the whole country, have been the victims of lay-offs.
If it was a typical company those who were fired could fight and in the case of Ssangyong Motors, they fought and were able to achieve a half-victory. However if a fired lecturer fights, in the academic world that lecturer would be labelled as a troublemaker, and it would be the end of his career. It is worse than simply being put on a blacklist. Even I myself teach every semester with the thought that it may be my last one to seek university normalization. So even though all of the 88 lecturers are as one in resenting the dismissal, they cannot step forward to fight it.
One laid off lecturer says: I don't want to lecture anymore. Another lecturer who has a PhD says: My child are just two so I can't speak up. Another lecturer said to his department, I received to teach three courses in the second semester; but I can't teach any longer because I can't stand this Korea University which only gives lip service to academic freedom and conscience'. The department said it was struggling with the university so they should be a little patient.
On Koreapas (koreapas.net) one laid-off lecturer's wife posted the desperate words below, on 8. 23:
The following is what i posted online on July 10 on the university homepage's Cyber-inspection room for online petitions. Since I received no reply I posted it on the free bulletin board, but maybe because it became old it has been removed and I am re-posting it here. Whatever is the reason we need a cyber-inspection room, if they simply ignore what people post without responding at all? It would be less embarrassing if they simply got rid of it....
'I am the wife of an hourly paid lecturer who is teaching at your esteemed university.
A few days ago, my husband was contacted by a department professor who told him that since he has worked over 4 terms in the second semester he would be dismissed.
The department professor told him, this instruction was passed to them through an official notice from the university central department in relation to the irregular worker act.
What I don't understand is, my husband already received the instruction to proceed teaching in the second semester at the end of the first semester; the teaching schedule for the second semester has already been posted and students' course applications already received, and the irregular worker act does not even apply.
That even a famous private university, Korea University which is called the people's university, would do this kind of excessive and rude act is a fact that makes me angry and miserable.
I even think that now there are no longer any teachers existing, who think of education seriously. It only inspires disillusionment and contempt that, in this country, the university itself is the place that is turning a large number of hourly lecturers who are responsible for education, into a socially weak and marginalized class.
I hope that you can abandon the false image of authority which is not even recognized, and wake up and clarify this for us.'
Even though he had no security for his future, my husband lived with fulfillment from teaching his students and juniors. But now I see that he has lost all motivation and as his wife I feel anxious and insecure.
I feel, it is not right to use and dispose of a person like this.
I feel, it is not right to ignore even the students' right to study as they choose, like this.
I wonder, as an alumnus of Korea University myself, whether I should just accept all this, and so I ask for the rest of the Korea University community for your thoughts...
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On August 21, 10 a.m., in front of the central Anam Building of Korea Univerdity, a press conference titled 'Please let us have our teachers back!' was held by Korea Univ student unions, where over 40 people attended, including Chung Tae-ho, president of Anam Campus of Korea Univ. student union, Lee Sae-ra, vice president of Sejong Campus of Korea Univ. student union, representatives of College of Political Economy, representatives of College of Liberal Arts, Kim Dong-ae, head of Central Struggle Committee for Restoration of University Teacher Status of University Lecturers and Normalization of University education, Song Hwan-woong, vice director of National Association of School Parents for Genuine Education, Do Chun-soo, president of Korea University Democracy Alumni Association, and others. Reporters from several media attended including MBC, SBS, YTN, Seoul Newspaper, Hangook University Newspaper, Korea University Newspaper, Bae Lusia Internet, etc. and YTN has reported on it.
Korea University union local leader Kim Young-kon said, 'Whether from the aspect of the irregular worker protection act or raising the quality of lecturers, there are no grounds for dismissing the lecturers.' Vice director Song Hwan-woong said 'Apart from university entrance, if you want to improve the quality of university education and university lecturers, the dismissal of the lecturers must be revoked and their status as university teachers restored. President Do Chun-soo said, 'Korea University must restore the jobs of the dismissed lecturers, and vice president Lee Ki-su of the Korean University Association should join in calling for the restoration of university teacher status to lecturers.' President Jung Tae-ho said, 'Give back our teachers.' Vice president Lee Sae-ra said, ' The dismissal of our teachers is unfair and we demand revocation of the dismissals.' Resolutions continued to be read out and shared.
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