Seoul Superintendent of Education Candidates' First Joint Debate... "Expand Diagnostic Assessments" vs "Foster Creativity"

'Debate Between Jo Jeon-hyeok and Jeong Geun-sik Over "Exam Expansion"
Various Measures Proposed for "Private Education Overheating"
"New Right Education Issues" Also a Historical Controversy
"Did Your Children Attend Elementary to High School in Korea?"

Candidates for the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education by-election, scheduled for the 16th, engaged in a heated debate on TV five days before the election. The candidates clashed over issues such as expanding diagnostic assessments and measures against private education.

At the four-party joint debate hosted by EBS on the evening of the 11th, progressive candidate Jeong Geun-sik criticized conservative candidate Jo Jeon-hyeok's pledge to expand diagnostic assessments to improve the quality of public education, saying, "(If diagnostic assessments are expanded) teachers become mere producers of goods and are reduced to subjects of evaluation."

In response, candidate Jo said, "It's not a written exam but a diagnostic assessment," adding, "During the past 10 years under former Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon, the progressive democratic education camp treated exams as a sin."

He continued, "They treated exams as child abuse and said they caused overheated competition, but the important thing is to accurately understand the (children's) condition and then prescribe solutions," he countered.

When asked about measures to prevent overheating of private education, candidate Jo emphasized, "Improving the quality of school classes is the most important," and reiterated, "We have not even evaluated the academic level of our children, so now we need to conduct accurate diagnostic assessments to identify their strengths and weaknesses."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, candidate Jeong argued, "Students are suffering from excessive learning. There is advanced learning that ignores developmental stages to the extent that there are medical school classes in elementary schools," and added, "Students should actively participate in the learning process to develop creativity, thinking skills, and problem-solving abilities."

At the debate, progressive candidate Choi Bo-seon, who ran independently without participating in the unification body, and conservative candidate Yoon Ho-sang also took part.

Candidate Choi argued that to prevent overheating of private education, a 'one classroom, two teachers system' should be implemented from the first grade of elementary school, and 'top instructors' should be selected even in public education to develop educational content.

Candidate Yoon said, "We just need to make after-school classes excellent," adding, "We can bring in external experts to schools, fully subsidize tuition fees, and even provide dinner to students."

Yoon, a former principal, said, "I sincerely put up 825 banners containing purely educational content," and added, "I wrote that if a principal becomes superintendent, they will solve difficulties."

He then targeted candidates Jeong and Jo, saying, "But there are too many red and blue (banners) lined up on both sides of me. What will the children see?" and criticized, "Judging pro-Japanese collaborators or colonial historical views is not a core pledge of a superintendent candidate. What truly matters is having the thoughts of the three main education stakeholders?students, parents, and teachers?in mind."

Candidate Choi also agreed with candidate Jeong's criticism of candidate Jo as a 'New Right candidate,' saying, "Distorted history should not be taught, and New Right education is problematic." He added, "But why is the whole society stirred up over this issue?" and asked, "History is not the only thing in elementary and secondary education; I want to ask what the second most important thing is."

Candidate Jeong responded, "When students fundamentally respect democracy and human rights and develop a proper national identity, they can grow into healthy democratic citizens."

The debate also saw negative campaigning over assets and family issues. Candidate Jo said, "Candidate Jeong owns about 1,000 pyeong of farmland in Yongin and Iksan; I wonder if he farms it. I also don't know if Jeong's son and daughter attended elementary, middle, and high school in Korea."

In response, candidate Jeong admitted, "I farm every weekend on a 150-pyeong plot in Yongin," and added, "When I was young, I spent a year at the Harvard Yenching Institute and had my children attend elementary school during that time."