Gyeonggi Office of Education: "Ansan Dongsan High School's Autonomous Private High School Status Maintenance Ruling is a Step Backward"... Immediate Appeal

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education expressed strong regret over the court's decision to maintain Ansan Dongsan High School's status as an autonomous private high school (Jasago) and decided to immediately appeal.

On the 8th, the Gyeonggi Office of Education expressed concern over the Suwon District Court Administrative Division 4 (Chief Judge Song Seung-woo)'s ruling in the lawsuit filed by the Dongsan Foundation against Gyeonggi Provincial Superintendent of Education Lee Jae-jung to cancel the designation cancellation of the autonomous private high school, stating, "The cancellation of the autonomous private high school status of Ansan Dongsan High School is canceled," and announced its intention to appeal.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education particularly commented that this ruling goes against the current trend of "normalizing high school education and future education." Furthermore, it criticized the ruling for granting impunity to unfair educational situations and the hierarchical college entrance competition system, lamenting that Ansan Dongsan High School lost the opportunity to develop into a proper school.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education plans to thoroughly review the court ruling as soon as it receives it to clarify the legality of the "2019 Ansan Dongsan High School autonomous private high school performance evaluation" and the legitimacy of the measures based on the evaluation results, aiming to uphold the autonomy and public nature of education, and will appeal.

In particular, based on the provisions of the "Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act" (Article 91-3, Paragraph 4) and the "Regulations on the Designation and Operation of Autonomous Schools by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education" (Article 9), which state that "the evaluation of autonomous schools shall be conducted according to the standards set by the Superintendent of Education," and objective evidence, the office plans to assert the legality of the "2019 Ansan Dongsan High School autonomous private high school performance evaluation."

Superintendent Lee Jae-jung emphasized, "We strongly regret this ruling that undermines the legitimate discretionary scope of the Office of Education," and added, "The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will not be discouraged by this result and will realize the reorganization of the high school system through the normalization of high school education and the transition to a new educational paradigm."