By Kim Rahn



It is an infringement upon individual freedom to prevent students living in a college dormitory from going out or staying out because of low TOEIC scores, the human rights watchdog said Tuesday.



According to the National Human Rights Commission, 10 freshmen at a national university were informed by the school in September that they would be restricted from going out or staying out overnight unless they can raise their TOEIC scores above 550 in two months. The commission withheld the name of the school, only saying that the school teaches maritime research and engineering.



Those students failed to reach the goal by November, and they were grounded for five weeks.



Two of them filed the petition with the commission in March, saying the school's ban infringed on their freedom.



The school said the ban was a "shock tactic" because, according to the school rule, students cannot graduate if their TOEIC scores are under 650. It said the school adopted the rule because its graduates will have to use English to communicate with foreign crewmen.



But the commission said the implementation of an educational method should not violate an individual's basic rights.



"Despite the educational purpose, the measure restricted the students' right to decide their own conduct," the commission said in a statement. "They could not visit their families or friends for the five week period. We recommended that the school guide students in a human rights-friendly way."



It also said the school established the restriction without a reasonable procedure, such as discussing it with the students at the dorms in advance.



