Jeonnam Office of Education and KTU Clash Over Organizational Restructuring

"Strengthening On-Site Support" vs "Issues with Procedure and Substance"

The Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (JeonGyoJo) and the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education are at odds over the proposed organizational restructuring of the provincial education office.

On the 8th, the Jeonnam branch of JeonGyoJo issued a statement, criticizing, "This organizational restructuring, being pushed at the end of the fourth popularly elected superintendent's term, is temporary and excessive. There is a high possibility that another restructuring will take place after next year's local elections," adding, "This seriously threatens the stability and sustainability of the organization."

They continued, "This is a visionless restructuring, being pushed through hastily without thorough organizational diagnosis or work analysis," and pointed out, "Unnecessary confusion and conflict are likely to arise during the process of merging departments and reallocating personnel." In particular, regarding the plan to transfer the Information Technology Team from the Administrative Bureau to the Policy Bureau, they criticized, "It lacks justification in terms of functional separation and administrative efficiency." They also raised concerns about fairness, noting that the burden of organizational downsizing is concentrated in the Policy and Education Bureaus.

The Jeonnam branch of JeonGyoJo firmly stated, "This organizational restructuring lacks justification in terms of timing, and without substantive structural reform, we cannot resume participation in the TF (Task Force)."

As the Jeonnam branch criticized the restructuring as hasty and lacking procedural legitimacy, and declared non-participation in the organizational restructuring TF (Task Force), the provincial education office issued a statement directly refuting JeonGyoJo's claims, saying, "This restructuring aims to reduce administrative work at schools and strengthen on-site support."

Regarding the criticism of a hasty and temporary restructuring, the education office countered, "According to the '2024 Jeonnam Education Policy Public Opinion Survey,' 53.9% of respondents cited the need to improve unnecessary school administrative work as a policy to help focus on educational activities," adding, "This restructuring is the starting point for gradually resolving the issues in areas where support is possible."

Addressing doubts about the effectiveness of increasing personnel, the office stated, "For each regional education support office, we plan to decide, through work analysis, whether to increase staff within existing teams or to form additional teams," emphasizing, "Through personnel reallocation and increases aimed at strengthening on-site support, administrative work at schools will be significantly reduced."

Regarding procedural legitimacy, the education office explained, "We plan to reflect the results of the organizational diagnosis as of July 1, 2024, the 2024 Jeonnam Education Policy Public Opinion Survey, and feedback from the field on reducing school administrative work," stressing that they are conducting an organizational diagnosis using big data. They also explained that more than half of the TF members are professionals or teachers, and that members recommended by general staff, five organizations, and unions are participating in the TF to ensure procedural soundness.

Regarding the transfer of the Information Technology Team, the office stated, "We are reviewing the integration of departments based on work connectivity, considering various demands from the field to digitize various application forms and ledgers currently in use and build an online system, as well as to plan digital policies such as AI education."

The office added, "We can no longer postpone the demands from the field. Through this organizational restructuring, we will resolve the difficulties faced by schools step by step," and continued, "Rather than a one-off, short-term restructuring, we will establish a plan to gradually support the field through systematic measures."