Eradicating school bribery

Police are probing an elementary school teacher in the Bundang district of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, for allegedly taking from parents over the past 27 months money and gifts worth 10 million won (9,000 U.S. dollars), including luxury bags. Bribery in education remains alive and well, especially in southern Seoul and certain areas in Gyeonggi Province, parents say. A parent reported the teacher to police after having long gathered evidence.

Parents and teachers have been urged to actively participate in campaigns to eliminate bribery. For example, certain schools even close on Teacher`s Day to prevent parents from coming and offering bribes to teachers. If the bribery allegation against the teacher is proven, however, these campaigns will have had little effect. A survey by the Anti-Government and Civil Rights Commission in 2008 on the parents of public school students showed 18.6 percent of parents had given money or gifts to their children`s teachers. This shows bribery remains a sore in Korean society. Bribery has also grown more sophisticated, taking the forms of mobile gift cards and door-to-door gift delivery services. No wonder why certain teachers want to be assigned to schools attended by the children of rich parents.

Courts started punishing teachers who received bribes in 1999 by designating money and gifts given to teachers as bribes. In the same survey conducted by the civil rights watchdog in 2009, 46.8 percent of parents said money or gifts offered to teachers were "bribes." Parents who give teachers money and other gifts on their own should face harsh criticism. The bigger problem, however, comes from the teachers themselves. For example, certain teachers favor students whose parents send them money or gifts or indirectly ask parents for bribes by frequently calling them in. Though this constitutes a small number of teachers, parents cannot ignore them.

Since parents are on the side of the weak, schools and teachers must clearly show intent not to tolerate bribery. Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education operate a "one strike, you`re out" system that fires teachers who take bribes even for the first time. Educational authorities must also do all they can to eradicate bribery. The Education, Science and Technology Ministry will set up an inspection team under its audit office. For starters, the team must punish teachers who receive bribes as an effective step toward eradicating bribery. A system is sorely needed to drive out teachers who accept bribes once and for all and protect the reputation of teachers who faithfully devote themselves to guiding students.