Seo Jeong-wi"Review of the minimum academic ability system for student athletes, delivered to the education committee"...'Proposer'Rep. Lim Oh-kyung"In violation of equity, absence of remedy, and unconstitutionality"
Sep 06, 2024
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According to the ruling and opposition parties' agreement, the Culture and Sports Committee adopted and delivered an opinion that the system should be improved by reviewing the School Sports Promotion Act's 'Minimum Academic System for Student Athletes' that prohibits student athletes from participating in the game if they do not reach a certain standard of academic performance.
Rep. Lim Oh-kyung (Gyeonggi Gwangmyeong Gap), secretary of the Democratic Party of Korea and "Usaengsoon Legend", played a decisive role. The adoption of the opinion was carried out on the day at the suggestion of Rep. Lim, who is pushing to revise the School Sports Promotion Act so that junior athletes who dream of becoming national athletes as athletes can do their favorite sports and study at the same time. It is significant that the National Assembly's stylistic committee, a standing committee related to the implementation of the minimum education system, which is causing major confusion in the sports field, presented problems and urged the National Assembly's education committee to review system improvement. Representative Lim recently proposed an amendment to the 「School Sports Promotion Act」 that includes providing relief measures by completing basic education programs, just like high school students, even if elementary and middle school students do not meet certain grade standards.
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According to the opinion of the writing committee delivered to the Education Commission, "The minimum academic ability system for student athletes is applied only to the physical education field among specialized students in arts and sports, and there is a controversy over the equity of the application field. Above all, there are exceptions for high school athletes to participate in the competition even if they do not meet the academic standards of the minimum academic ability system when completing the basic academic ability guarantee program, but elementary and middle school athletes cannot participate in the competition even if they complete the basic academic ability guarantee program and there is no other remedy, so equity is not secured among the subjects." He also said that the minimum education system could be unconstitutional. Article 11 of the School Sports Promotion Act stipulates that students should not be allowed to participate in competitions prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Education if they do not reach a certain level of academic standards. However, the enforcement regulations of the same law define the 'competitions prescribed by the Ministry of Education' as 'all forms of competitions' and in fact, student athletes are not allowed to participate in all competitions if they do not reach the minimum academic standards" he pointed out. It was pointed out that there is a possibility of a substantial flaw in the law by improperly or incomplete legislation by not setting up a competition by the Ministry of Education in terms of practical content even though it has formality.
Rep. Lim Oh-kyung called for the National Assembly's education committee to ease and improve the system after more careful discussions on pushing ahead with the minimum education system for student-athletes, which has various controversies such as violation of equity, lack of relief, and unconstitutionalityThe National Assembly has taken action as the confusion and damage in the sports scene is getting serious, with constitutional petitions being filed against the hasty implementation of the minimum education system, even though the state should guarantee students' right to exercise. We will continue to watch the improvement efforts in the future."
Restrictions on participation in the competition will take effect from September immediately. The National Assembly's stylistic committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is in charge of the situation, agree that the Ministry of Education needs to take measures to minimize damage to student athletes. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requested the improvement of the minimum education system through the school sports policy council of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and sent an official letter requesting that the enforcement rules of the School Sports Promotion Act, which bans participation in games for the entire next semester with grades for the first semester of 2024, be eased to one month per semester. In April, a student athlete filed a constitutional petition against the relevant provisions of the School Sports Promotion Act, which provided relief measures only for high school student athletes if they were under the minimum education level and did not legislate relief measures for elementary and secondary student athletes. The temperature difference between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on constitutional complaints is large. The Ministry of Education believes that the primary and secondary curriculum is a compulsory curriculum and cannot be compared at the same level as the high school, so it cannot be viewed as arbitrary discrimination, while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism argues that compulsory education is an obligation for the duration of education and does not require a certain level of education, so unreasonable discrimination among elementary and high school students. Although the state's educational authority is superior to providing student-athletes with opportunities to compete, the lack of relief for elementary and secondary student-athletes could violate the principle of equality, according to legal advice. Meanwhile, the Solidarity of Parents of Korean Athletes also plans to file an injunction and file an administrative lawsuit to suspend the effectiveness of the minimum education system as soon as possible.
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The minimum academic ability system, which is being implemented to ensure that student-athletes can combine their studies and sports in a balanced way, is a system in which student-athletes cannot participate in competitions for a certain period of time if they do not reach a certain academic performance. However, the system is confusing, with objections from the education field due to infringement of student athletes' rights and career options, and constitutional complaints and administrative litigation by some parents opposing the implementation of the minimum education system.
Therefore, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee would like to present the following opinions on the implementation of the minimum academic ability system for student athletes.
First, the minimum education system for student players is a controversial system for equity.
This system is applied only to the physical education field among specialized students in arts and sports, so there is a controversy over the equity of the application field. Above all, there are exceptions for high school athletes to participate in the competition even if they do not meet the academic standards of the minimum academic ability system when completing the basic academic ability guarantee program, but elementary and middle school athletes cannot participate in the competition even if they complete the basic academic ability guarantee program and there is no other remedy, so equity has not been secured between the subjects.
In addition, the evaluation subjects were limited to five subjects: Korean, English, mathematics, society, and science, except for physical education subjects where student-athletes can obtain scores relatively easily, so equity in the applied subjects was not secured.
In other words, contrary to the original purpose, the system, which applies only to the physical education field without improving deficiencies such as the absence of relief measures, is rather an obstacle to the career and admission of student athletes.
Second, the minimum academic ability system for student players is a system that may be unconstitutional.
Article 11 of the School Sports Promotion Act stipulates that "the head of the school shall not allow student athletes to participate in competitions prescribed by Ordinance of the Ministry of Education if they do not meet a certain level of academic standards.". The enforcement regulations of the Act define "competitions prescribed by the Ministry of Education" as "all forms of competitions participating in the qualifications of student athletes". In fact, student athletes are not allowed to participate in all competitions if they do not reach the minimum academic standards. In the end, this law is formal, but in practical terms, the Ministry of Education did not set the competition, which caused a substantial flaw in the law by improperly or incomplete legislation.
In conclusion, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee would like to ask the Board of Education to ease and supplement the minimum academic background system for student athletes, which has various controversies such as violation of equity, lack of remedies, and legislative omissions. In particular, we ask that students with developmental disabilities consider applying exceptions to academic standards, such as providing customized educational programs, in consideration of the circumstances that lowering the grade achievement rate is not helpful. We ask for active interest and prompt discussion at the level of the Board of Education to prevent such a system from damaging students' athletes in the educational field in good faith or reducing their motivation for exercise.
sky4us@sportschosun.com
