A group of South Korean Christians shaved their heads Wednesday in protest against the country's private school law, which they claim contains unconstitutional clauses.
Some 30 pastors, who hold membership in the Christian Council of Korea, took the action in the morning.
"It is ridiculous for the government to say the law is to prevent corruption in the private schools when there are only a few corrupt schools," the pastors said in a statement. "We will devote ourselves to the revision of the current private school law."
The Christian Council of Korea, representing 73 elementary, middle and high schools, has vowed to launch a strong campaign against the law, which requires an outside-auditor system.
The controversial law was railroaded through the National Assembly last December after months-long opposition from religious and conservative forces, including the main opposition Grand National Party.
The ruling Uri Party pushed for enactment of the law, saying it will contribute to educational development by enhancing managerial transparency at private schools.
Under the law, private schools are obligated to have outside auditors occupy one-quarter of the seats on their boards in decision-making procedures, and to include students' parents and faculty members as outside auditors. The law also bans relatives of school owners from becoming board members.
Previously, school directors were mostly handpicked by school owners or foundations.
Christian groups protested the law, saying it would fundamentally undermine the purpose for private schools and violate free market principles by treating private schools as public schools.
South Korea's religious communities, including Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists, currently own over 70 percent of the private schools in the country.
The law is aimed at preventing "rampant" corruption by management, said officials at the Ministry of Education.
According to government tallies, about 98 percent of the budgets of private middle and high schools in South Korea come not from their own foundation funds, but from state subsidies and tuition fees.
The public nature of education and the state's constitutional right to establish and control the educational system cannot be denied, although the private schools can still have autonomy in management, the government officials said.
Seoul, Dec. 20 (Yonhap News)
Local Christian activists shave heads to protest private school law |
