ID :
81958
Sun, 09/27/2009 - 09:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/81958
The shortlink copeid
Progressive teachers` group vows anti-government rally
SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- A progressive South Korean teachers' union said
Sunday it will stage a massive rally next month to protest President Lee
Myung-bak's education policies and the recent punishment of its members for
signing petitions.
Defying a government ban, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU),
which represents some 80,000 teachers nationwide, issued two statements over the
summer berating the conservative president's competition-driven education
policies and calling his governing style "authoritarian."
The upcoming demonstration, slated for Oct. 10, will be joined by some 3,000
union members, the second-largest teachers' rally this year, the union said in a
press release.
The union also plans to launch a campaign next week aimed at gathering signatures
from teachers who are against policies including the restoration of the state-run
scholastic test, which it claims discriminates against students in provincial
regions. The petition will be submitted to parliament next month, the union said.
Accusing the teachers of engaging in "illegal" political activity, the education
ministry has sought to punish over 25,000 union teachers to varying degrees. The
government claims that, as public servants, teachers are prohibited by law from
engaging in anti-government protests.
The union's leaders face the most severe punishment, and could be banned from
teaching for three years. Following the release of the first petition in the
summer, prosecutors ordered a police raid on the KTU's head offices, seizing
documents and computer hard drives.
The teachers' movement is part of an anti-government campaign first launched by
academics and civic groups here that was largely triggered by the May 23 suicide
of Roh Moo-hyun, President Lee's immediate predecessor.
Roh, a liberal human rights lawyer-turned-politician, leaped to his death from a
mountainside precipice above his rural southeastern home amid a corruption
investigation that sent several of his closest confidants to prison. His
supporters say the probe was politically motivated.
The KTU, however, was also in opposition to several education policies under the
Roh government, which pushed measures aimed at equalizing education levels among
schools.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
Sunday it will stage a massive rally next month to protest President Lee
Myung-bak's education policies and the recent punishment of its members for
signing petitions.
Defying a government ban, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU),
which represents some 80,000 teachers nationwide, issued two statements over the
summer berating the conservative president's competition-driven education
policies and calling his governing style "authoritarian."
The upcoming demonstration, slated for Oct. 10, will be joined by some 3,000
union members, the second-largest teachers' rally this year, the union said in a
press release.
The union also plans to launch a campaign next week aimed at gathering signatures
from teachers who are against policies including the restoration of the state-run
scholastic test, which it claims discriminates against students in provincial
regions. The petition will be submitted to parliament next month, the union said.
Accusing the teachers of engaging in "illegal" political activity, the education
ministry has sought to punish over 25,000 union teachers to varying degrees. The
government claims that, as public servants, teachers are prohibited by law from
engaging in anti-government protests.
The union's leaders face the most severe punishment, and could be banned from
teaching for three years. Following the release of the first petition in the
summer, prosecutors ordered a police raid on the KTU's head offices, seizing
documents and computer hard drives.
The teachers' movement is part of an anti-government campaign first launched by
academics and civic groups here that was largely triggered by the May 23 suicide
of Roh Moo-hyun, President Lee's immediate predecessor.
Roh, a liberal human rights lawyer-turned-politician, leaped to his death from a
mountainside precipice above his rural southeastern home amid a corruption
investigation that sent several of his closest confidants to prison. His
supporters say the probe was politically motivated.
The KTU, however, was also in opposition to several education policies under the
Roh government, which pushed measures aimed at equalizing education levels among
schools.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
