Comprehensive Measures to Guarantee the Right to Education of Migrant Children
NHRCK Recommendation to Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology & Ministry of Justice
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended the followings to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and the Ministry of Justice in order to ensure the education right of migrant children.
￭ To strengthen the education of Korean language and the system of providing information about school life in their mother tongues
￭ To prevent discrimination against migrant children and strengthen remedial measures for human rights victims
￭ To suspend the forced eviction of parents during the school year or term of migrant children
￭ To establish the legal basis for reserving the application of or exempting the duty of notification concerning public servants in charge of the protection of rights of migrants.
Immigration Children's Education, Often Interrupted Due to Difficulty in Joining Public Education
The NHRCK conducted the <Survey on the Status of Educational Rights of Migrant Children> in 2010 to examine how the educational right of migrant children is practiced. According to this survey, 61.4% of respondents experienced difficulty in entering schools due to the lack of Korean language skills and 15.2% were rejected by schools. Many of the migrant children responded that they wished to quit due to bullying, difficulties in following school curriculums, and financial status. In addition, 60% of them worried about the crackdown on undocumented migrants.
Emphasis on the Obligations to Guarantee the Right to Education of Migrant Children including Convention on the Rights of the Child, Etc.
The education right is an important element in the process of growth of children. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that all children have the right to be educated without any discrimination, and all members of the UN have the responsibility to respect and ensure the education right of children.
In December 2009, the NHRCK recommended the revision of related laws to allow entrance of all migrant children to the secondary school through the proof of residence other than foreigner registration certificate in order to provide compulsory education to unregistered immigrant children. The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology has been making efforts to ensure the education right of immigrant children such as making revisions in related laws to allow the entrance of immigrant children to elementary and secondary schools based on the submission of the copy of the lease contract, etc. in December 2010.
Recommendation for Comprehensive Measures to Ensure the Education Right of Migrant Children
The NHRCK decided that it is necessary to take actions throughout the education such as increasing the accessibility to public education, developing measures to prevent students from quitting and eliminate discrimination, and developing stable educational environment in order to secure the education right of migrant children. Therefore, the NHRCK recommended:
￭ systematic Korean language training and more effective guide for school life in student's mother tongue;
￭ prevention of discrimination against migrant children and effective remedial measures for human rights victims;
￭ temporary suspension of the forced eviction of parents of migrant children during the school year or term; and
￭ establishment of legal basis for reserving the application of or exempting the duty of notification concerning public servants in charge of the protection of rights or the relief of immigrants.
