"Complete Rejection of Yoon's Education Policy"... Fierce Standoff Over 'AI Textbooks' Amid Impeachment Crisis

The Direction of AI Digital Textbook Policy
Jeon-gyo-jo "Complete Rejection of Education Deterioration Policy"
Seoul Teachers' Union "90% of Teachers Oppose"
Ministry of Education "Retroactive Legislation Is Problematic"

There continues to be opposition from the education sector regarding the 'AI (Artificial Intelligence) Digital Textbook' policy, one of the education reforms under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Some educational organizations and opposition parties have conducted surveys targeting parents and teachers to oppose the policy implementation.

According to the education sector on the 11th, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo) held a press conference in front of the Government Seoul Office building the previous day, stating, "We demand the immediate resignation of Yoon Suk-yeol, the instigator of rebellion, and fully reject the education reform policies that are destroying public education and plunging South Korean education into crisis."

Jeon-gyo-jo explained that "the Ministry of Education announced the start of AI digital textbook certification at the end of August, effectively pushing forward hastily without reviewing field suitability," and that they have formed a joint countermeasure committee to halt AI digital textbooks together with 127 educational civic groups. They also requested the formation of a public discussion committee and a hearing related to AI digital textbooks at the National Assembly.

On the same day, the Seoul Teachers' Union also released the results of a survey conducted on 555 teachers who reviewed the AI digital textbook web exhibition version from the 6th to the 10th.

Yonhap News

The teachers' union reported that 90% of the teachers who responded to the survey opposed the introduction of AI digital textbooks. Furthermore, when asked how well the AI digital textbooks realized the educational purpose of 'individualized customized education,' they rated it 1.9 out of 5 points. Eighty-three percent of the teachers answered that the nature of the AI digital textbook was 'supplementary learning material.'

The teachers' union emphasized, "The additional functions attached to the AI digital textbooks are inferior to the AI courseware already used by teachers," and urged, "The Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education should abandon their illusions about AI digital textbooks and scrap the full-scale introduction policy."

Kim Young-ho, chairman of the National Assembly Education Committee, along with Go Min-jung of the Democratic Party and Kang Kyung-sook of the Innovation Party, are conducting a survey on parents' and teachers' perceptions related to this issue from the 10th to the 20th.

Currently, a partial amendment bill to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which defines AI digital textbooks as educational materials rather than textbooks, has passed the full meeting of the National Assembly Education Committee led by opposition parties. If the bill passes the plenary session of the National Assembly, it will prevent the government from mandating digital textbooks in schools nationwide as planned.

However, the Ministry of Education maintains that it cannot halt the policy implementation. A Ministry of Education official explained, "If the amendment bill that invalidates the legal status of AI digital textbooks, announced on the 29th of last month, passes, it would be a problem of retroactive legislation," adding, "This is not an issue of support or opposition to AI digital textbooks but a matter related to the legal system."

The Ministry of Education plans to hold the 'Korea Education Innovation Expo' at KINTEX in Ilsan from the 13th to the 15th, exhibiting AI digital textbooks to teachers.