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130748
Thu, 07/01/2010 - 10:42
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(News Focus) Seoul`s new education chief faces daunting test in reform drive

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's new education chief, who has a reputation for
championing egalitarian reform, faces a tough road ahead as his sweeping
manifestos, including free school meals, are at odds with the government's
pro-market policy and even financially uncertain.
As Kwak No-hyun took office as superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of
Education on Thursday, all eyes were on his key election promise that all
students will be entitled to "environment-friendly free meals." Despite strong
concerns about the budget, Kwak has vowed to implement the pledge no matter what
starting in elementary schools next year.
The former policy advisor under the late President Roh Moo-hyun's administration
has been a vocal critic of President Lee Myung-bak's education policy that seeks
to improve achievements by fostering competition and awarding the elite.
"My first goal is to cut off the bequest of educational poverty between
generations," Kwak said in an earlier interview with Yonhap News Agency.
"Education so far produced the talented out of the rich. My goal is to realize
the potentials of children beyond the fortunes of their parents or the regions
where they are born."
Some officials at the Seoul education office and the education ministry are weary
Kwak's free meal pledge will trigger serious budget problems. Its expected annual
cost of 390 billion won (US$320 million) may prompt budget cuts in other areas,
they say.
"We have conveyed our opinion to the superintendent-elect that there could be a
balloon effect," a senior official at the metropolitan education office said
earlier this week, on condition of anonymity.
In its annual budget of 6.3 trillion won, the pure portion for education policy
minus fixed expenses or facility support amounts to just 650 billion won and thus
cannot cover free meals for every student, the metropolitan education office
says. Currently, free meals are provided for children from low-income families,
which make up about 10 percent of the total 1.37 million students in
kindergartens, special schools and elementary to high schools in Seoul.
Concerns have mounted that the selective aid scheme openly shames recipients and
can miss those in need. To implement the unconditional free meal policy, the Kwak
side plans to scale down "ineffective" education projects and get funding from
district offices as well as the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
"We can sufficiently accommodate the budget by cutting back ineffective
projects," Kim Yong-il, an education professor at Korea Maritime University and
advisor to Kwak, said.
Furthering his egalitarian reform, Kwak also plans to abolish school management
support charges paid by parents in all middle schools in Seoul next year.
Another contended part is Kwak's objection to the education ministry's launch of
the teacher assessment system earlier this year. After a decade-long debate, the
ministry finally implemented the assessment in 1,310 elementary, middle and high
schools nationwide, in which teachers are given a score by colleagues, school
principals, students and parents.
All teacher organizations, both right-wing and left-wing, howled at the
assessment that they say only fosters competition at the expense of quality
education.
The ministry, however, argues parents overwhelmingly welcome the assessment,
citing a survey that showed support by 86.4 percent. The grades will not affect
teachers' pay or promotions and will be used to reward high-graded teachers and
place badly performing ones in training programs, it said.
Kwak opposes the government-initiated teacher grading system, but still believes
there should be an objective way to watch over teachers. First, he will see what
results will come out of the ongoing assessment and consider reform.
"Teaching is quasi-sacred. I don't agree with lining up teachers according to
their grades and linking the grades to their pay and promotions," Kwak said in
the interview with Yonhap. "But the reason why parents and the ordinary people
overwhelmingly support the teacher assessment is that teachers are an absolute
power in the classroom. Absolute power that is not watched over is bound to
degenerate."
Another hot issue is the decision by the education ministry last month to fire 134
public school teachers for gaining membership to the minor opposition Labor
Democratic Party in violation of a law that bans civil servants from political
activity.
Kwak, a law scholar, said the mass firings are "too much." He vowed to change the
disciplinary system in the Seoul education office, which may reverse the
ministry's dismissal for some teachers in Seoul.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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