Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education to apply revised directive starting this year.

Gyeonggi Province Superintendent of Education Lim Tae-hee announced on November 11th that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education (GPOE) will implement a strengthened guideline this year to prevent school violence perpetrators from being assigned to the same higher-level schools as their victims.

Expanded Separation Criteria  

Superintendent Lim, speaking at a press conference held at the GPOE's Northern Regional Office, stated, "We are expanding the standard for separating school violence victims and perpetrators during advancement to higher-level schools this year."

Specifically, the GPOE will now exclude perpetrators who have received Disciplinary Measure No. 7 (class change) from being assigned to the same school as the victim, expanding the scope of protection for victims.

Key Policy Shift  

The Ministry of Education currently mandates separate assignment for school violence perpetrators who receive Measures No. 8 (transfer) and No. 9 (expulsion) out of the nine disciplinary steps. Under this existing national standard, approximately 90 students (victims and perpetrators) in the Gyeonggi area were separated annually.

The GPOE had previously become the first in the nation to expand the separation criteria to include disciplinary measures from No. 7 (class change) and above. Superintendent Lim's recent statement confirms that this directive has been delivered to local education support offices and will be applied starting this year. 

Disciplinary Measures Explained 

When a school violence incident occurs, the School Violence Committee determines one of nine disciplinary measures based on five criteria: Intent, Severity, Durability, Degree of Remorse, and Reconciliation. The measures are categorized as minor (No. 1-3) and serious (No. 4-9):

No. 1: Written apology
No. 2: Ban on contact/threats
No. 3: In-school community service
No. 4: Community service
No. 5: Completion of special education or psychological treatment
No. 6: Attendance suspension
No. 7: Class change
No. 8: Transfer
No. 9: Expulsion
 
Protecting Victims  

Superintendent Lim emphasized the necessity of the expanded standard, noting, "Looking at recent school violence cases, it is common for victims to transfer to other places to avoid the perpetrator."

He added that perpetrators often receive a 'no suspicion of crime' ruling in court or simply continue their schooling without changing schools. "I made this decision after seeing cases where the victim suffers greater harm," Lim concluded.

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