South Korea’s Education Ministry said Tuesday it planned to strengthen safety education for elementary, middle and high school students as well as teacher candidates after a string of lethal accidents revealed safety issues involving schools and extracurricular activities.
The safety-enhancing plans came in response to mounting calls to improve the safety level in schools after the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April took nearly 300 lives, mostly students.
“The main focus of the plan is to provide systematic safety education so that teachers can be trained to become semiprofessionals in safety, and also establish safe learning environments,” Kim Shin-ho, the deputy minister of education, said in a press briefing. The plans were submitted at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Starting in 2016, students at teachers’ colleges will have to receive training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency treatment. In order to teach physical education at middle or high schools, teacher candidates will have to pass a swimming test.
The ministry said that state-run institutions which provide training for future teachers will offer more safety training and even create a separate course in order to train future education workers who will engage in fields directly related to students’ health, such as school nurses or physical education teachers.
The ministry plans to create a “school safety instructor” license next year, which will count as extra credit on the national teacher examination and for promotions, also effective from 2016.
Teachers who are already working in schools will have to complete a 15-hour training course before the end of 2017.
Students will also be subject to safety training. As part of the curricular overhaul in 2018, a safety-related subject will be introduced and students will partake in more activities like fire drills. The current law only requires that eight hours of such training be conducted per year, most of which takes place in classrooms.
The ministry added that third graders will participate in state-funded swimming classes. Some experts have argued that the high number of casualties in the Sewol tragedy may have resulted from students’ inability to swim.
According to the Korea Federation of Teacher’s Associations, most children in the Netherlands start learning how to swim around the age of 3. By the time they are in third grade, nearly all students are able to swim.
In the case of Germany, CPR classes are mandated for middle and high school, the KFTA said.
Regular safety checks of school facilities will be conducted. All buildings will be inspected three times a year, and ones that are designated as “hazardous facilities” will be required to receive repairs within one year and reconstruction within two.
More thorough inspections are planned for buildings that are 40 years old or older.
Local education chiefs will come up with the yearly maintenance plans based on inspections conducted by each school.
Because most universities operate autonomously, the ministry said it would persuade them to voluntarily participate in the safety inspection.
As announced earlier this month, a new department overseeing safety in school will be created at the Education Ministry. Currently, safety-related issues at schools, universities and other educational facilities are all handled by different departments.
By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@herladcorp.com)
