"National Assembly Education Committee Current Issues Report Promotion
Kim Seong-ju: 'The Myth That the President Knows Everything Must Be Broken'"
The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for an emergency inquiry by the National Assembly's Education Committee regarding the controversy over the difficulty level of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). Park Kwang-on, the Democratic Party floor leader, demanded a public apology from President Yoon Suk-yeol and measures to resolve the confusion at the entrance exam sites.
At the floor leaders' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 20th, Park said, "The Democratic Party will push for an emergency inquiry by the National Assembly's Education Committee," adding, "We will thoroughly investigate the CSAT incident and prepare measures to ensure the exam is conducted stably, reassuring examinees and their parents."
Earlier, on the 15th, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, reported to President Yoon on education reform and current issues, and during a briefing stated, "The President instructed the government to prepare and strongly implement measures to reduce private education expenses amid the recent increase in such costs." He added, "Regarding the CSAT, which many examinees are highly interested in, the President said the test should have discriminative power but be designed so that students can solve problems by diligently following school lessons, and that content not covered in 'school lessons' should be excluded from the exam."
Following this, controversy arose over whether the President had ordered an easier CSAT. The presidential office explained, "The President did not mention difficulty but emphasized the principle of a fair CSAT," yet educators and parents expressed confusion over this year's changes in the CSAT difficulty level.
Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Park Kwang-on said, "The college entrance CSAT fell into confusion because of one word from the President," and added, "I am worried whether this year's CSAT can be conducted normally." He criticized, "Following the controversy over the admission of five-year-old children to elementary school, this can be called the worst educational disaster. Looking at the dismissal of the responsible department head and the resignation of the president of the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, which oversees the CSAT, due to the President's criticism of the exam, it clearly reflects the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's formula for state governance."
He further pointed out, "It is unprecedented that the head of the evaluation institute stepped down due to the difficulty level of the CSAT mock exam," and "It is also unprecedented to put massive audit pressure on the CSAT administering institution five months before the exam."
Regarding this, Park demanded an apology from President Yoon and measures to resolve the confusion at the entrance exam sites. He said, "President Yoon should apologize to the examinees and the public," and added, "This year's CSAT should maintain the direction and principles upheld so far. Unprepared transitions cause confusion. If you really want to push for changes, please fully collect opinions from examinees and parents and consider implementing them next year." He continued, "A fundamental understanding is needed regarding private education expenses," and said, "If you think eliminating killer questions from the CSAT will eliminate private education expenses, that is a very simplistic way of thinking." Park explained, "We need to invest in public education to improve the quality of school education, find ways to reduce university hierarchy, and ultimately create a welfare state where people can be proud and dignified citizens even without attending university."
Kim Sung-joo, senior vice chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, also criticized, saying, "I did not expect such a grand educational reform to eliminate killer questions from the CSAT," and added, "One word from the President to remove killer questions caused a huge uproar." Kim pointed out, "The People Power Party praised President Yoon as a knowledgeable expert during the investigation of entrance exam corruption, but the party said it would maintain autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools, which promote private education, while suppressing private education. This is a contradictory policy." He emphasized, "Democracy means moving away from the myth that the President knows everything and makes no judgment errors," and said, "The President does not act according to the instructions of the head of state of the Republic of Korea."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
