The number of days allowed for absenteeism (hereinafter referred to as the number of days allowed for attendance) for athletic student athletes will increase significantly from this year.
If the number of days that student athletes recognize as attendance increases from last year when they are absent from school to participate in competitions and training, it is expected that the athletes will be able to balance sports and studies more smoothly.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism today (19th) reviewed the recommendation of the 'Sports Innovation Committee' (hereinafter referred to as the Sports Innovation Committee) as a national task of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. It was announced that it plans to support student athletes by expanding and preparing a customized learning support plan for student athletes.
The number of days required for attendance increases from 5 days for elementary school students, 12 days for middle school students, and 25 days for high school students last year to 15, 23, and 25 days this year.
In a business report on the 5th, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyun said, “We will remove the tabletop populism revealed in the past Sports Innovation Committee and normalize sports policies centered on the field.” We will expand the number of days that student athletes are required to attend to prevent a recurrence of cases similar to those of athletes.”
The government's policy can be summarized as trying to harmonize the right to learn and the right to exercise by revising the existing policy that leaned toward guaranteeing the right to learn for student athletes.
The Sports Innovation Committee is a public-private joint committee launched as part of measures to eradicate human rights violations such as (sexual) violence in the sports field during the Moon Jae-in administration.
For one year from February 2019, for the structural reform of the sports world, 52 tasks were recommended through a total of 7 sessions, including ▲ protection of sports human rights ▲ improvement of the athlete training system ▲ establishment of a fair culture in sports.
Based on the recommendations, the government established and operated the Sports Ethics Center, an organization to protect the human rights of athletes, enacted the Basic Law on Sports, conducted training after regular classes and prepared training time regulations, completely abolished the training camp, specified the ratio of reflection of subject grades, attendance, etc. Most of the tasks have been completed or described as currently being implemented.
However, the three recommendations, which did not fully reflect the voices of the sports field ▲ ban players from participating in weekday competitions during the semester (reduced the number of days allowed for attendance) ▲ switch from weekday competitions during the semester to weekend competitions ▲ reorganization of the youth sports competition, were implemented due to opposition from the sports community The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it was difficult.
At the same time, he pointed out that the student players were forced into a situation where they had no choice but to give up either academics or sports, citing a case in which the enrollment rate of broadcast correspondence high schools for golf players aged 17 to 19 doubled.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism determined that it was necessary to improve the three controversial recommendations, so opinions from stakeholders such as parents, student athletes, and coaches were widely collected. He introduced that he had listened to opinions and prepared a government agreement.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the basic direction for expanding the number of days for attendance is to ensure basic learning and holistic growth through school life in the compulsory education stage, and to provide sufficient exercise conditions considering that high school is the time when careers are decided.
In addition, it was added that, due to the nature of the event, even if it is difficult to hold a weekend competition due to facility rental issues or training facilities are far away and it is inevitable to secure training time during the week, it is not difficult to improve skills due to lack of opportunities to participate in competitions and training.
Lastly, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will leave the shift from weekday competitions to weekends depending on the circumstances, and maintain the current system in which elementary and middle schools participate in the youth sports competition, but in the mid- to long-term, convert it into an integrated competition in which school sports teams and school sports clubs participate. He said he would build a foundation.
(Photo = Provided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Yonhap News)