If the Ministry of Education Requests Reconsideration, Textbook Status Will Apply
Some Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education Cut Budgets Amid Confusion
Ministry of Education: "Negotiating Subscription Fees with Publishers"
Introduction Scheduled for March This Year, but Procedures Are Currently Halted
A bill defining the AI (artificial intelligence) digital textbook promoted by the government as educational material rather than a textbook will be sent to the government within this month. Although the Ministry of Education has expressed its intention to invalidate the bill by exercising a request for reconsideration, confusion continues in the field of schools, including metropolitan and provincial offices of education and schools, as the status of the textbook has not been finalized.
According to the National Assembly on the 10th, an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that downgrades the AI digital textbook to educational material is being prepared for transmission to the government this month. Previously, on the 26th of last month, the bill passed the plenary session of the National Assembly. If the bill is finalized, the AI digital textbook, which was scheduled to be introduced in schools starting this year, will be selected as educational material that can be utilized by the school principal after deliberation by the school operation committee, rather than as a textbook.
However, the Ministry of Education plans to immediately exercise a request for reconsideration. After a bill passed by the National Assembly is sent to the government, the president can exercise a request for reconsideration within 15 days. If the government’s request for reconsideration causes the amendment to fail, it is expected to be difficult to reintroduce the related law. Since the introduction of the AI digital textbook in the field is scheduled to begin in March, insufficient preparation time could cause greater confusion. If the government exercises the request for reconsideration, the AI digital textbook will be able to maintain its status as a textbook.
As time has passed from the bill’s passage in the National Assembly to its transmission to the government, frontline schools are already experiencing confusion. Although preparations for field introduction must begin in March, related procedures have effectively been halted as the textbook status has not been finalized. Currently, the Ministry of Education has not yet completed subscription fee negotiations with publishers who have passed the review. A Ministry of Education official explained, "We are negotiating subscription fees with publishers," adding, "Since price negotiations are based on the premise of textbook status, we plan to make a decision while observing how the legal status discussion in the National Assembly is resolved."
Some metropolitan and provincial offices of education have reduced the AI digital textbook subscription fee budget from the originally allocated amount in response to the legal amendment situation. According to data received by the office of Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from each metropolitan and provincial office of education on the same day, five out of 17 offices nationwide have reduced the previously allocated AI digital textbook subscription fee budget.
This year's AI (Artificial Intelligence) digital textbook subscription budget organized by the nationwide city and provincial offices of education. Provided by the office of Go Min-jung, Democratic Party of Korea.
Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, which finalized its budget on the 31st of last month, set the budget at 32,891,760,000 KRW, a reduction of 20 billion KRW from the originally allocated 52,891,760,000 KRW. Chungbuk Provincial Office of Education also cut its budget by approximately 3,988,400,000 KRW, and Jeju Provincial Office of Education reduced its budget by about 1,779,100,000 KRW. Gangwon Provincial Office of Education cut 363,560,000 KRW, Gyeongbuk Provincial Office of Education reduced 98,820,000 KRW, and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education cut 10,000,000 KRW from their budgets. At the time, a Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education official explained, "It seems that the law passed by the National Assembly was reflected during the budget committee’s adjustment process."
It has been reported that some offices of education and schools have conveyed guidelines stating that the selection of textbooks can be postponed until February.
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