SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- Teachers in elementary, middle and high schools in the city of Seoul will be banned from using all forms of corporal punishment starting this week, the city's education officials said Sunday, despite worries over a lack of alternative means to manage indiscipline or misbehavior by pupils.

   The move, which comes into force Monday, culminates months of efforts by Kwak No-hyun, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), who took office in July and pushed to initiate the ban.

   Nearly all schools in Seoul have adopted new guidelines or revised previous rules to ban physical punishment from next month, officials said.

   "Over 99 percent of schools in Seoul have introduced rules banning corporal punishment, even for educational purpose," said an official at the SMOE. "From Nov. 1, any types of physical punishment will be prohibited."

   In spite of the ban on corporal punishment, it remains unclear whether the ban will remain effective with some teachers expressing concerns that a growing number of students could become unruly without what they consider an effective method of supervising students in classrooms.

   Still, corporal punishment is not illegal in South Korea. Physical punishment has been used for students who fail to complete homework or speak in class when the teacher has commanded silence.

   The country's education ministry has yet to give its official stance on Kwak's move but indicated the new policy could be in conflict with the autonomy given to principles to determine their own school policies.

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