Kim Yong-seo, chairman of the Federation of Korean Teachers’ Unions and former middle school teacher, included “making Korean history mandatory on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT)” as a campaign pledge in the press release he distributed when declaring his candidacy for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election on the 4th. However, Korean history was already designated as a mandatory subject for the 2017 CSAT, so failure to take the CSAT itself will invalidate the application. When a Dong-A Ilbo reporter asked on the 12th why he included a system that had already been introduced in his campaign pledge, Kim explained, “The policy team was considering increasing the number of history class hours as a way to strengthen history education, and we made a mistake when we included it. We realized it was a mistake, but we did not have time to correct the printed version.”
With less than two weeks left until the registration date for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election (26th and 27th) on the 16th of next month, some candidates are raising controversy by making pledges that are either outside the authority of the superintendent or policies already in effect. In some cases, they are frowning at slogans with strong political overtones rather than policy pledges. In the case of the superintendent by-election, the voter turnout is only 20-30%, and voters often vote without knowing much about the candidates, so there is criticism that it is becoming a ‘blind election’ as they focus only on unification without considering policies.
●Superintendent of Education to Abolish Private High School and September Admissions?
In the case of former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun, his policy pledge is to abolish “autonomous private high schools (autonomous private high schools) and special-purpose high schools (special-purpose high schools).” In his policy data booklet, former Superintendent Kwak argued that “autonomous private high schools and special-purpose high schools should naturally be abolished because they are schools for wealthy students, or in other words, schools for parents.” However, according to the Enforcement Decree of the Secondary Education Act, the Superintendent of Education can evaluate individual autonomous high schools and cancel their designation, but must first obtain the consent of the Minister of Education. In a situation where the Yoon Seok-yeol administration reversed the previous administration’s policy of abolishing autonomous and special-purpose high schools in January and restored the legal status of these schools, some are pointing out that former Superintendent Kwak’s argument is unrealistic. He had also advocated for the abolition of special-purpose high schools in the past, but at the time, it was revealed that his second son was attending a foreign language high school, and he was criticized for being “hypocritical.”
Professor Kim Kyung-beom of Seoul National University’s Department of Western Language and Literature, who has made his “number one pledge” of “legislating the abolition of September rolling admissions,” is also outside the authority of the superintendent of education. In his declaration of candidacy, he stated, “I will cooperate with the National Assembly to legislate the abolition of September rolling admissions and normalize public education.” The abolition of rolling admissions can be promoted by the National Assembly, but consultations with the Ministry of Education, the National Education Commission, and the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) are essential in the process. In a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo, Professor Kim explained, “This means that we should start the college entrance exam after students have completed the second semester of their third year of high school. We will create that kind of social atmosphere because elementary, middle, and high school education can only be changed if the college entrance exams are changed.”
●Superintendent election with politics but no policy
There are many cases where they are more enthusiastic about political criticism of the opposing camp than competing policy pledges. Former Grand National Party lawmaker Cho Jeon-hyeok said in his declaration of candidacy on the 5th, “Seoul education has been devastated by leftist forces for the past 10 years. We must cleanse the schools that have been contaminated with ideology.” It has been reported that he recently made a private statement that he “beat up the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) in the past,” and was criticized even within the party for “being a candidate for superintendent who must embrace both camps, so he must be careful with his expressions.”
Hong Hu-jo, a professor of education at Korea University, also caused controversy with his high-level political slogans when he declared his candidacy on the 9th, saying, “Seoul education has been a target of certain political groups. As a result of politicians disguised as educators taking the lead, it has been devastated,” and “Schools have no hesitation in raising students to be homosexuals and pro-North Korea injectionists.”
Meanwhile, in a survey conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), a polling agency, on the 8th and 9th at the request of CBS, former Grand National Party lawmaker Cho Jeon-hyeok (12.6%) and former Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun (14.4%) were chosen as the preferred candidates by the conservative and progressive camps, respectively. Although both have criminal records, it is interpreted that this result was achieved because of their high level of recognition (for more information, refer to the website of the Central Election Opinion Survey Deliberation Committee).
Reporter Kim Ye-yoon [email protected]
Reporter Yeo Geun-ho [email protected]
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2024-09-18 08:07:23