Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education and Jeonkyoso, Heated Dispute Over 'Opinion Gathering' on Organizational Restructuring

Jeongyojo "Lack of Democratic Opinion Gathering Process"
Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education "Sufficient Review through Surveys and Interviews"

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education and the Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Korean Teachers Union) have expressed opposing views regarding the organizational restructuring.

The Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers Union argues that the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education lacked a democratic process in gathering opinions related to the organizational restructuring, raising concerns about the weakening of school educational activities and the reduction of democratic citizenship education. On the other hand, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education maintains that the decision was made after sufficient opinion collection through surveys and interviews.

On the 16th, the Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers Union demanded that the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education revise and supplement the organizational restructuring plan through a public discussion process.

The union stated, “The diverse voices and opinions from the school field were not sufficiently reflected, and the democratic process of gathering opinions was insufficient,” adding, “Among the 16 members of the organizational restructuring TF committee responsible for collecting data, gathering opinions, and drafting the restructuring plan, only one member was a teacher.”

They continued, “The number of educational professionals performing school educational support tasks at the Education Support Office was reduced by 14, while general staff increased by 57, and the School Work Normalization Team was abolished,” and demanded, “The Provincial Office of Education must revise and supplement the organizational restructuring plan through a public discussion process.”

In response, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education stated that the union’s claim of “hasty promotion of organizational restructuring” is not true and that the matter was decided after consultation and thorough review.

On the 17th, the Provincial Office of Education explained, “The organizational restructuring TF, composed of 8 teachers and educational professionals and 6 school members, operated for three months, and a sufficient opinion collection process was conducted through a survey involving 2,108 participants and institutional interviews.”

They added, “The reduction of educational professionals was an unavoidable measure to meet the total personnel cost standard amid difficulties in securing manpower,” emphasizing, “This year, the total personnel cost standard for educational professionals was reduced from 428 to 419, leading to an adjustment in the quota.”

Furthermore, they stated, “The increase in general staff was due to the need for specialized personnel to support student education and schools, not administrative tasks,” and added, “We plan to establish an organizational system that can actively promote Jeonnam’s future education policies by integrating the main agendas of each department.”

Additionally, they explained, “The abolition of the School Work Normalization Team was an unavoidable adjustment due to the establishment of new teams for core policy implementation, such as the Reading and Humanities Education Team,” and clarified, “The School Work Normalization Team will be converted from a team unit to a task unit, and its assigned duties will be transferred to the Policy Planning Division to support school work.”

They also stated, “The Democratic Citizenship Education Team has only changed its name to the Student Life Education Division; democratic citizenship education itself has not been reduced, and the policy functions of democratic citizenship education and student autonomy will be further strengthened.”