EPIKers under surveillance, DMOE plays parole officer

Last Updated on July 17, 2010 by Christine Kaaloa

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You are being watched by Big Brother but now, you’re being watched more!

Korea steps up surveillance towards sex crimes against minors
So where are we on the news about the recent NET (Native English Teacher) sex crime? According to The Marmot’s Hole blog, Rep. Choi Young-hee (Korean Democratic Party) wants tighter enforcement placed on visa regulations for foreigners (and incidentally, the new controversy in drug tests administered to E2 teachers next year, will include a test for cannabinoids aka pot) . She points that charges against sex offenses committed by teachers are often light and that the offender can still be hired by another school.

On a related note, as much as the leftist or rightist parties would like to point the finger at dirty foreigners, Koreans are making the news regarding recent sex crime cases (rape even) and these don’t look pretty. According to The Korean Herald, July has been a busy month for police and the recent surge of sex crimes against minors. Thus, Korean law enforcement officials are attempting to crack-down on the grave situation as parents voice their concerns.

How does this affect the public school environment in Daegu?

So far as I know, my school has already issued us badges to wear during school hours to show that we are official teachers.  This week a frosted plastic film went over the door windows of our English classroom to deter clear viewing. Also, my school has a few CCTVs but they’ll be required to install more, and there’s  buzz going around that we might be getting extra police patrol or officials around the school. This is good news for parents in regards to child safety!  If anyone notices more changes to their school as a result of this, please give a shout out and let us know.

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This is how I wish I could be during the summer vacation period.
Creepy but cute pic in lieu of my above topic (pic at Bobsama in Korea)

Daegu DMOE plays parole officer to EPIK teachers’ summer hours
On a similar and related note,  there’s new news of how the DMOE will enforce EPIK’s NET summer work hours. On Monday, my CT told me that the DMOE will be making surprise school visits during the summer vacation. In addition, my CT must write a report on how our school will be making use of me during the summer.  Whoa! What?! First of all, no one will be at school, except for a bunch of newly installed CCTV’s and 2 rotating teachers (who are desk-warming and managing the school). Why? It’s summer vacation for the Korean public school system– there are no teachers, no students or classes to teach. It’ll be a ghost town. Now, my CT is burdened with having to think of an unnecessary mock work to have me do!  The DMOE is pushing for the schools to come up with something other than desk-warming and God knows why this is sudden enforcement of EPIK teachers’ summer hours is such a big deal this year.

Making EPIKers feel like they have a parole officer is one of the first shitty things that Daegu‘s DMOE has done to us (and this gives the EPIK program a bad slant).

Updates a/o July 19: So apologies~ no sooner than I posted this blog (on July 17) than I am informed today by my CT that the DMOE is selecting only a few schools to look in on vs. making surprise visits. Actually, I had to ask her on account that the DMOE has a “scheduled” visit to the school of an EPIK friend of mine. Had I not asked, I would have not been corrected. Our school has not been selected by the DMOE for a summer visit. Was this something my CT overlooked in the email she received last week or did more information arrive? This is an example of how sometimes,  important information concerning me gets relayed to me via the paper cup and string method. Either way, this is good news.

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