Fifth Policy Package Announced: Ensuring Class-Focused Time
Expanding Special Project Selection System and School Autonomy
Kim Seokjun, a candidate in the Busan Metropolitan City Superintendent of Education by-election, announced his fifth policy package, "Creating a Teaching Community of Pride and Dignity," on the morning of the 17th.
Kim pointed out, "Since declaring my candidacy, I have met many members of the education community and heard vivid testimonies about the unilateral and uncommunicative administration of the former superintendent." He diagnosed Busan education as being in a "crisis situation," stating, "As a result of pushing policies unilaterally for political goals without gathering input from the field, teachers' morale and pride have hit rock bottom."
To address this crisis, Kim announced his policy goal: "I will thoroughly analyze the effectiveness of the showcase projects initiated by the former superintendent, distinguish the worthwhile ones, and create an environment where teachers can take pride in guiding students by respecting the autonomy of schools and educators through educational administration."
To achieve this, his first goal is to "create an environment where teachers can focus on their primary duties." He plans to reduce teachers' workload by expanding dedicated administrative teams, providing AI assistants to all educators, and expanding the option for schools to choose which special projects to participate in.
The "dedicated administrative team" policy, implemented during Kim's previous term centered on "Busan Dahengbok School," is known to have effectively reduced teachers' workloads and created an environment where homeroom teachers could focus on guiding students.
Kim plans to guide all interested schools to establish such teams, increase the number of administrative support staff, expand the achievements of "Busan Dahengbok School" to all schools, and develop and distribute "AI assistants" for staff to modernize outdated work practices.
He also plans to expand the "special project selection system," allowing schools to autonomously choose and operate education office policies that were previously pushed unilaterally.
Second, with the goal of "Respected Teachers, Upright Busan Education," he will promote: support for auxiliary staff from the preparation stage for off-campus activities, stronger response to violations of teachers' rights, expanded legal support and teacher protection insurance, and enhanced principals' ability to handle complaints.
To ensure the safety of off-campus educational activities such as field trips, he will provide safety specialists to help schools identify risk factors from the preparation stage, and expand the coverage of teacher protection insurance to support teachers' liability in unforeseen accidents.
He will also strengthen case-based training to enhance principals' ability to protect teachers from rights violations and malicious complaints, and work to establish a rational communication structure to prevent conflicts among school members.
Third, with the goal of "Expanding Welfare for Schools and Teachers," he will promote: expanded support for materials and training on using AI and edutech, increased welfare points for less experienced teachers and public officials, and increased basic operating expenses for schools.
Kim stated, "With rapid changes in the education field, teachers' interest in edutech utilizing AI is increasing," and announced plans to "expand case-based edutech training that deepens understanding of AI and is easy to apply in real classrooms."
He also plans to increase welfare points for less experienced teachers and public officials to prevent turnover due to low pay and heavy workloads, and to expand support for basic operating expenses that schools can use freely, thereby increasing the autonomy of school management.
After the policy announcement, Kim visited the Busan branch of "Diquest" in Yangjeong-dong, Busanjingu, to examine the current state of AI technology and explore its potential applications in educational administration.
Kim said, "Teachers' workloads have increased, but outdated work methods often make even simple tasks time-consuming and difficult, which is regrettable," and expressed his intention to "collaborate with related companies to provide 'AI assistants' to all educators to reduce their workload using advanced AI technology."
"Diquest," which Kim visited that day, is a subsidiary of "Saltlux," a leading domestic artificial intelligence technology company, and provides various AI solutions to businesses and public institutions.
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