Bribery in schools has been curbed significantly since the introduction of the anti-graft law last year, a recent survey showed.

About 83 percent of parents and 85 percent of school faculties said they do not see the offering of under-the-table gifts or money anymore, according to the survey conducted online earlier this month by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on some 36,947 parents and 18,101 school faculties and teaching staff. 

Another 76 percent of the parents and 82 percent of the school faculties said they saw less requests for bribery-related favors after the law was introduced. 

Also known as chonji, meaning “a token of goodwill” in Korean, the practice of giving teachers gifts is believed to date back to the Joseon era. But in the early 1970s, the tradition changed into parents gifting cash to teachers in order to seek favoritism for their child. 

To prevent bribery, the “Kim Young-ran law” -- named after the former Supreme Court justice who drafted it -- states that teachers and their spouses are barred from accepting meals and gifts worth more than 30,000 won ($27) and 50,000 won, respectively. It took effect on Sept. 28 last year.

The limits on the value of meals, gifts and monetary gifts given at weddings, funerals and other major personal events affect some 4 million civil servants, journalists, teachers and their spouses here. 

In the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s survey, 95 percent of the parents said they supported the implementation of the anti-graft law.

About 94 percent of school faculties said the new law did not interfere with the performance of their duties at schools, adding that the law was properly implemented and followed by those at schools. About 87 percent of parents shared the same view. 

For parents, the most dramatic change after the implementation of the anti-corruption law was the decreased burden of preparing gifts for teachers to express gratitude (84 percent), followed by less dining with school faculty members (63 percent).

Respondents said other changes include the transparent process of work performance, indiscriminate treatment between teachers and increased fairness in grade assessment. 

A separate survey conducted last month by professor Lim Dong-kyun from University of Seoul showed that at least 89 percent of some 1,202 South Koreans said that the new law was effective. Some 45.6 percent said its impact was small, while 5.6 percent said the changes were huge. Just 0.6 percent said there was no change at all.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)