Human rights watchdog chief says 'extreme' early education poses serious rights issue

▲ This undated file photo shows Ahn Chang-ho, chair of the National Human Rights Commission. (Yonhap)

human rights watchdog-childrens rights

Human rights watchdog chief says 'extreme' early education poses serious rights issue

SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- The head of the national human rights watchdog on Monday took issue with the country's "excessive" early education fervor for young children, saying it is depriving them of their childhood.

Private preschool programs, especially those specializing in English, have recently come under growing scrutiny over their intensive classes designed to prepare young children for competitive academic admissions.

"The expansion of extreme early education is a serious children's rights problem," Ahn Chang-ho, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, said in a statement released a day before Children's Day.

"Such excessive early education deprives children from time to play, rest and express themselves, as well as undermining their healthy growth and development," he said.

Ahn cited a recent United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report that ranked South Korea fourth in terms of children's skills, but 34th in mental health and 28th in physical health out of 43 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Union.

"While our children could be leading in terms of competition, (this) shows that they are not sufficiently protected in terms of life stability and safety," he said.

In a bid to better protect developmental rights of young children, the education ministry last month announced plans to ban rote-based learning for children aged under three among other measures to curb excessive preschool education.

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