[Opinion] A New Vision for Elementary and Secondary Education in the Era of Great Transformation Is Needed

Godugap / Professor, Department of Economics, National Mokpo University

Today, South Korea's education system is facing a deep and complex crisis. For decades, the standardized, rote memorization-based education that has dominated our society has concentrated talent in Seoul-centric universities and intensified the trend toward specific professional fields such as law and medicine.

Professor Do Gap Ko, Department of Economics, Mokpo National University

This system continues to be followed in elementary, middle, and high schools, even as we enter the era of the fifth and sixth digital social revolutions, surpassing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Confronted with artificial intelligence (AI), which emerged in earnest only two and a half years ago, we have come to realize that many jobs may soon disappear, including traditional professions such as judges, lawyers, and doctors?roles that once formed the upper echelons of society. Now, it is time for education to move beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge and focus on the pursuit of wisdom.

Since 2009, South Korea's elementary and secondary education has cultivated a new educational movement in response to the demands of the times under the banner of "innovative education," which began in Gyeonggi Province. Over the past 15 years, educational autonomy led by "progressive superintendents" has become widespread, ushering in the era of innovative education.

Innovative education, centered on key policies such as innovative schools, free school meals, student rights, and school democracy, has aimed to position teachers and students as the main agents of education, foster a democratic culture within schools, and help students grow into democratic citizens.

However, the social and historical context in which innovative education emerged in 2009 is vastly different in depth and complexity from the environment we face in 2025. Innovative education was an effort to address the deepening social inequality during the heyday of neoliberalism and to reform both modern industrial and neoliberal educational models in order to normalize public education.

Today, however, our education system is confronted with crisis tasks that demand a deeper and more qualitative transformation. Above all, we are faced with the challenge of advancing Korean democracy in the aftermath of the Candlelight Revolution, and we must confront the socioeconomic inequalities that have become even more entrenched in the late neoliberal era.

Alongside these trends, our society is experiencing an unprecedented demographic crisis marked by low birth rates and a decline in the school-age population. In addition, the global digital and AI revolution is fundamentally challenging humanity, whose essence lies in intellect and labor. Furthermore, we are now facing severe crises that threaten human survival itself, such as the climate crisis and pandemics.

Fifteen years ago, the focus was on transforming and "innovating" the existing educational paradigm. Today, while inheriting the achievements of innovative education, we are confronted with the need for a comprehensive educational revolution that is suited to the challenges of a Korean society in transition.

We need a new form of education that will foster awakened individuals capable of leading this grand transformation and that will lay a groundbreaking foundation for democracy in our society. Education for a new era must remain true to its essential purpose while systematically nurturing and developing the right kind of citizens for our times?awakened democratic citizens who form the bedrock of our society's democracy.

Education for a new era must set the following goals to address the tasks of this great transformation and to further strengthen the democratic community of humanity and South Korea: fair equality, public citizenship, innovative creativity, independent intellect, ecology, and safety. I am confident that this new education will become the cornerstone for South Korea's future.