Safe Schools Korea
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the person responsible for running the non-profit organisation “Safe Schools Korea”. He was interested in some information contained on this blog, and in conversation he revealed some information about the work he is doing in Korea.
I had heard of the organisation before, but I did not really know just how much interest there has been in the NGO of late, as I have been somewhat withdrawn from the Korean blogosphere.
So, with permission, I have decided to present some of the information for people to digest and comment on:
- Safe Schools Korea works directly with police forces around the world. In a matter of days, the founder had information that I had been unable to access in months of trying! They are able to track people around the world, so that somebody who has worked outside of their home country can be checked, and a person who flees overseas can be tracked!
- Safe Schools Korea are working with Korean Congressmen who are hoping to further the mission of the NGO.
So… what is the mission? Safe Schools Korea are in a position to make the current E-2 headaches disappear. They could also cause the Korean public to reassess their opinion of E-2 holders as being little more than a bunch of criminals.
Safe Schools Korea have the ability, and in some cases, the technology, to prove the KIS with secure criminal background checks. These checks can be carried out and given directly to the Korean Immigration Service, and so the checks would be guaranteed as both thorough and secure.
The Korean Immigration Bureau know all about Safe Schools. They have received letters from the British Embassy, Australian Embassy, New Zealand Embassy, British Police, Australian Police, NZ Police, our US / Canada registered data provider, as well as details on our South African fingerprint technology (we use fingerprint scanners to check SA records), all telling them that the information Safe Schools provides is exactly the same as if they received it directly from the police of the relevant country.
Here’s the kicker… at the moment, the KIS prefer teachers to check themselves! We all know that the US system ensures that somebody could be a criminal in one state, move to another state, and check clean. The UK system is not much better. At the moment, teachers coming from the UK can present the KIS with a “Disclosure Scotland” background check. I have completed one of these checks done for a job I had in the UK, and it was a joke!
I applied for the Disclosure Scotland check shortly after moving house in the UK. I was applying for a local government license, and so had to get my check completed. Disclosure Scotland sent me a letter requesting a proof of my new address. I was waiting on a bank statement and so I was going to send that to them when they decided not to bother, and they sent me my clean criminal record without checking who I was!
Now… it would have been clean (and the one I got when I came to Korea was from Scotland Yard, so that was properly checked), but the fact it… I could have been ANYBODY!
Another thing to consider is that, in the UK, a spent conviction will not (or should not) show on a Disclosure Scotland check. For “at risk” groups, we have the CRB check (comparable to the Canadian VSS). This check can only be carried out by authorised parties such as schools, hospitals, etc, and certain agencies. Safe Schools Korea can carry out these checks!
The criticism that this is a simple Private Investigators operation, or somebody’s attempting to make a buck for himself is one mentioned on Brian’s site. I couldn’t disagree more. Safe Schools Korea have resources available to them that would prevent undesirables from coming to Korea. Safe Schools Korea know how people with records are beating the system. In some cases, they know who they are. The KIS methods are flawed, and they need to be fixed. An organisation that can properly check the backgrounds of people before they arrive is sorely needed, and Safe Schools Korea are in a position to manage the system in a way that the KIS can only dream of!
If foreigners get behind this NGO, visa applications would be easier to manage, and parents would be calmed by the fact that all foreign teachers entering on E-2 visas had been properly checked at the point of entry.
