Seoul Administrative Court"Suspension of effect of the 'Minimum Education System' to prevent middle school students from participating in baseball" First Judgment...There's a way for the student-athletes

Sep 20, 2024

In the second semester of this year, middle school baseball players, who were blocked from participating in the competition due to the full application of the minimum academic ability system for student players, dramatically found the opportunity to participate.

On the 21st, the 6th and 14th divisions of the Seoul Administrative Court decided to suspend the effect of the principal's disapproval of participation in the competition in two administrative lawsuits filed by parents on behalf of the children of underage student players, one day before the opening of the 2024 U-15 National Youth Baseball Competition.

Article 11 of the School Sports Promotion Act, revised in March 2013, stated that the principal may restrict student-athletes from participating in competitions if necessary if they do not meet a certain level of academic standards (hereinafter, the lowest academic standards). Middle school must have 40% of the average grade of the subject at the end of the semester (midterm + final exam + performance evaluation) and high school must have 30% or more of the average grade to be allowed to participate in the next semester. The applicable grades are from 4th grade to 3rd grade, the applicable subjects are 5 subjects such as Korean, English, mathematics, social studies, and science, and 3 subjects such as Korean, English, and social studies in high school.

The law, which was originally scheduled to take effect in the first semester of this year, was postponed to September, when the second semester begins, due to on-site opposition that there was not enough advance publicity, but there was a strong protest from the field as the ban on underachievers to participate in the competition became a reality. In particular, in the case of group sports, if the ace players in major positions do not reach the lowest education level, the entire team will give up participating. If you are banned from participating in this year's second semester competition, you will not be able to participate in next year's youth sports competition, so you will not be able to build up your performance for advancement and career. In the case of high school students, exceptions have been made to allow them to participate in the competition upon completion of the 「Basic Education Guarantee Program」, but in the case of elementary and middle school students, there is no remedy. Parents' constitutional petitions for this part are also underway.

Rep. Lim Oh-kyung (Democratic Party of Korea), a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, and Rep. Cho Jung-hoon and Seo Ji-young (Power of the People) are actively collecting public opinion through public hearings and meetings to revise the relevant provisions of the School Sports Promotion Act at the 22nd National Assembly. South Korea's athlete parent alliance (Chairman Kim Chang-woo) filed an administrative lawsuit against the school principal from all over the country to stop the suspension, and the Seoul Administrative Court made the first meaningful decision to open the way for children to participate in the competition.

According to the court's decision, middle school baseball players who were blocked from participating in the game throughout the semester due to their lack of minimum education were given the opportunity to participate in the tournament. Immediately after the decision, Inyu (CEO lawyer Jeong In-chang), a law firm that provides free administrative litigation and suspension of execution cases, said, `I hope for a wise ruling so that young student-athletes can cruise harder toward their dreams without giving up their dreams as soon as possible.'

Reporter Jeon Young-ji sky4us@sportschosun.com

sky4us@sportschosun.com