"Expecting Substantial Improvement in Curricula... Audits Must Be Fully Expanded"
"Need to Recruit Professional Personnel and Inspect Overall Operations"
In response to the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education's decision to conduct a pilot audit of private kindergartens in the areas of academic and administrative affairs, a local educational civic group welcomed the move and called for its full expansion.
On August 6, the group Citizens' Coalition for a Society Without Academic Cliques issued a statement, saying, "We expect that the operation of private kindergarten curricula will become more substantial, and that the public nature and transparency of early childhood education will be strengthened."
The group explained, "There have been ongoing criticisms that audits of private kindergartens have focused excessively on financial accounting and general administration, while lacking sufficient inspection of overall educational activities such as curricula, after-school programs, and experiential learning. Our coalition has consistently demanded the recruitment of audit personnel with expertise in early childhood education, as well as comprehensive audits covering all aspects of operations, including academic and administrative affairs."
The group further evaluated, "This pilot audit of academic and administrative affairs is significant in that audit personnel with professional expertise and on-site experience in early childhood education are directly participating." They emphasized, "Based on the results of the pilot audit, the overall operation of private kindergarten audits must be improved, and all kindergartens should receive equal and fair audits."
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