The number of students dropping out of primary and secondary education is on the rise, in turn highlighting the lack of alternative schools and facilities for troubled youths.According to the Seoul Development Institute and the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday, 6,885 students dropped out of elementary, middle, and high school in 2010. The research found only some 660 students are in alternative schools, shelters, and facilities, highlighting that the remaining 90 percent are left without

Experts call for long-term effective measures involving the whole societySchool violence has drawn more attention every time school bullying cases are reported, prompting the government to come up with measures to resolve these problems. But experts say the measures have proven mostly ineffective and short-sighted. School violence incidents occur incessantly, leaving deep scars on the school community and society at large.Recently, the government has once again proposed a set of measures after a

The number of primary and secondary education teachers looking to retire early this year in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province has skyrocketed from last year, education officials said Tuesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, 920 teachers from elementary, middle and high schools have applied for early retirement this February, up 188 from February 2011.Of those, the greatest increase came from public school teachers as 691 applied for early retirement in February, com

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- The national railroad operator received a flurry of passenger complaints after one of its high-speed trains missed a key station and made a dangerous return trip back to the missed stop late Monday.Korail said one of its Korea Train Express (KTX) trains, heading to Busan fr

Reporter Joo Jin-wu and former lawmaker Chung Bong-ju on Monday sued former Grand National Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won for defamation and concealing irregularities during the Seoul mayoral by-election in October. The suit is the first of the year, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Joo and Chung shot to fame hosting the nation’s most popular podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda, (I am a slacker).”Police said Joo, a reporter for the weekly magazine SisaIn, filed the complaint claiming that Na

Government prioritizes campaign against school bullying in New YearThe 14-year-old boy who killed himself in Gwangju last week had been bullied by his peers, leading the government to announce on the first working day of the New Year that it has given top priority to dealing with school bullying.According to Gwangju police, three students had beaten him, robbed him of money and sent him threatening text messages. His friends told police that the boy had been hit by three of his classmates 29 tim

Ministry strengthens laws against school violencePolice said Monday that the 14-year-old boy who killed himself in Gwangju last week had been bullied by his peers, leading the government to announce on the first working day of the New Year that it has given top priority to dealing with school bullying.Police also confirmed that three students had beaten him, robbed him of money and sent him threatening text messages.His friends told police that the boy had been hit by three of his classmates 29

The government has set aside more funds for state scholarships to ease the heavy college tuition burden, allowing college students to receive loans without having to repay them before finding employment, the Education Ministry said Monday.Increased tuition subsidies will be offered to college students through the 2012 national budget as the government added 250 billion won ($216 million) to the previous 1.5 trillion won, the ministry said. The extra subsidies are expected to decrease nominal col

Dozens of homeless individuals that have collectively saved hundreds of millions of won this year were recognized by Seoul City on Monday which is giving them additional opportunities to turn their lives around.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 70 homeless individuals living in shelters were recognized for saving 260 million ($224,800), more than half of their earned income, between April and November.The top seven individuals were found to have saved more than 90 percent of their

The Constitutional Court on Monday ruled the current law banning paramedics from staging strikes constitutional. The ruling weighing more on public health than labor rights is expected to fuel controversies among health workers here. “It is true that the Labor Law puts more restrictions on health workers than on those of other industries. But given the fact that a strike at emergency rooms or other paramedical facilities could pose a huge threat in the already urgent situations directly affectin

Daily expenses rose in 2011’s last quarter, increasing the strain on those already struggling with the high cost of living here, officials said Monday.According to research by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, North Chungcheong Province saw a particularly high average rise of 5.2 percent in the cost of the popular Korean meal of kimchi jjigae between September and December.The dish saw similar price rises throughout the country with prices in Ulsan rising 3

Ministry seeks to strengthen laws against school violencePolice said Monday that the 14-year-old boy who killed himself in Gwangju last week had been bullied by his peers.They also confirmed that three students had beaten him, robbed him of money and sent him threatening text messages.His friends told police that the boy had been hit by three of his classmates 29 times, Gwangju Police Station said.The suicide came a week after another 14-year-old boy in Daegu jumped to his death after bullying b