Parent Coalition Submits 14,071 Signatures to Ministry of Education Demanding Review of Anti-Discrimination Guidebook
A coalition of parents, teachers, and citizens submitted signatures to the Ministry of Education in Sejong City on October 8, demanding the complete withdrawal and revision of an anti-hate and anti-discrimination guidebook, according to newsnn.net.
Signature Drive Expansion and Demographic Breakdown
The signature campaign began on September 2, 2026, organized by the Child Education Rights Parents Association alongside 95 other groups. Initially, the group submitted 11,480 signatures to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on September 9. By the October 7 cutoff, the cumulative total reached 14,071 participants.
Parents accounted for 6,016 signatures, or 42.8% of the total. General citizens made up 6118 signatures, representing 43.5%, while teachers contributed 811 signatures at 5.8%. The remaining 1126 participants, amounting to 8.0%, did not specify their status.
Geographically, Gyeonggi Province recorded the highest participation with 4,320 signatures, making up 30.7% of the total. Seoul followed with 3,445 signatures at 24.5%, Incheon with 963 signatures at 6.8%, Busan with 692 signatures at 4.9%, and Gwangju with 595 signatures at 4.2%.
Core Objections to the Education Ministry Guidebook
The coalition supports the fundamental principle that all students deserve protection from bullying, insults, and unjustified discrimination. However, the groups argue that student safety must be separated from incorporating socially contested concepts into official school guidelines. The primary point of contention centers on the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity definitions.
According to the coalition, introducing these concepts and criteria into nationwide school guidelines risks conveying a specific viewpoint to students during their formative years. The organization asserts that educational content applied during a period when values are forming must account for developmental stages, curriculum suitability, professional teacher judgment, and parental educational rights.
Co-presidents Park So-young, Yook Jin-kyung, and Park Eun-hee, along with Han Hyo-gwan, co-representative of the National Hope Education Solidarity, participated in the press conference and subsequent meetings with Ministry of Education officials. The groups formally requested three actions: the exclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity concepts from the guidebook, the organization of a public hearing or roundtable involving parent representatives to review the collected signatures, and the complete reconsideration or suspension of the guidebook’s production.
The coalition cited Article 13 of the Education Basic Act, which establishes that parents and guardians possess the right and responsibility to educate their children and may offer opinions on school education. The groups also noted that the Constitutional Court recognizes parental education rights as a constitutionally protected fundamental right.
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