South Korea urged to end HIV tests for foreign teachers

[unreal.livejournal.com]

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has asked South Korea to end mandatory HIV tests for foreign nationals seeking visas to work as teachers.

Ban made the request during the G20 economic summit in Seoul last November.

Most of those who are tested are foreigners recruited to teach in English language schools. They say that the practice is discriminatory and contributes to their being stigmatised as drug abusers and sexually promiscuous people.

Meanwhile, the British embassy in Seoul is planning to provide English language classes to North Korean defectors to help them integrate into the South Korean education system.

Embassy officials said the programme was due to start this month.

British ambassador Martin Uden told the Yonhap news agency that a lack of English-language ability can challenge defectors trying to access higher education in the south.

Rest of the news on that page had nothing to do with Korea
Source: guardian

Comments

[wintersol.livejournal.com]

Maybe, or it's information that Sk schools would need know to prevent its spread.

[childishgrin.livejournal.com]

... still doesn't make sense since it doesn't spread unless there's contact with bodily fluids - and swapping spit won't give you HIV.

Besides, any decent teachers won't even go spitting on or kissing with their students to start with.

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

mandatory HIV tests for foreign nationals seeking visas to work as teachers.

yeaaaah , i dont think you can stay and teach without a visa :|

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh you'd be surprised.

[asth77.livejournal.com]

A+ Mr Ban Ki Moon

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

.. what , they have a test like this?

its totally discriminatory , speechless rn

[kellygreen.livejournal.com]

Yep, when you arrive in Korea you have to have a full medical check. They take your blood and test you for HIV and drugs, they record your height, weight, blood pressure. Then you have to have a chest x-ray (I assume for TB but who really knows) and they test your eyesight. It's insane.

[morgenderper.livejournal.com]

Count me in.

[831panda831.livejournal.com]

o/

me too

[love-etcetera.livejournal.com]

I have no words for how offensive this practice is.

[maple88.livejournal.com]

contributes to their being stigmatised as drug abusers and sexually promiscuous people.
Whatchu talkin about? Everyone's like this in Western countries!

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

That sounds so much like the USA circa 80's and early 90's when people were so ignorant about HIV and AIDS. In fact, this might almost be worse, people then didn't know much about the disease or how it spread, it was relatively new.
There is no excuse nowadays.

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

lol I really feel bad using it for such a srs article though >.>

[nene718.livejournal.com]

Discriminatory as fuck.

[sincronia.livejournal.com]

I had no idea foreign teachers had to undergo such tests... That's definitely not right and I hope there's a stop put to it.

[k0dama.livejournal.com]

words outta my mouth

[childishgrin.livejournal.com]

Already a breach a privacy right there, plus being HIV positive doesn't mean anything if you're a decent person or have anything to do with being a good teacher.

[after-an.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally I was on Ask a Korean yesterday reading about this. They didn't regulate teachers very much at first. NSET = native speaking English teachers

"But, as governments often do, Korean governments set up regulations that emphasized quantity over quality, which means they did not properly filter out unqualified NSETs – which blew up with the case of Christopher Paul Neil. Neil, an internationally wanted child molester, was arrested in Thailand after having fled from Gwangju, Korea, where he worked as an ESL teacher. When these loopholes were exposed, the government overreacted and swung to the other direction, requiring drug and HIV testing (that it did not require for Korean teachers) that nearly amounted to harassment."

Here's the post: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-is-state-of-esl-teachers-in-korea.html

[kellygreen.livejournal.com]

True story. When I first arrived in Korea in 2007, you didn't even need a criminal background check to be a teacher. Just a copy of your diploma and you were good to go. After the Christopher Paul Neil case, everything completely changed. Now, in order to get an E2 visa, you have to have an FBI (or equivalent in your country...for me it was the RCMP) criminal record check, your diploma notarized by a lawyer and approved by the Korean embassy in your home country, and then when you arrive in Korea you have to undergo a series of medical tests (HIV tests included, as well as a chest x-ray for TB, an eye exam, and a drug test) before you can get your foreign resident ID card. It's all absolute bullshit. I get the criminal record part...I'm all for keeping pedophiles away from my students, but the rest is discrimination, pure and simple.

[after-an.livejournal.com]

It's such an overreaction but then SK goes batshit over about everything.

[kellygreen.livejournal.com]

Oh jeez, seriously.

[maiyana-05.livejournal.com]

it's good to be cautious but there is a thin line between being cautious and being a racist and this shouts RACISM!

[after-an.livejournal.com]

Not hard to see when SK is known for its xenophobic nature. :(

[maiyana-05.livejournal.com]

indeed! i love me some KPop but as a whole? Eh.