One Grade Lower Than Last Year...
High-Intensity Reform Measures Planned for Early Next Year
The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education has embarked on organizational reform after receiving a Grade 4 rating in the "2025 Comprehensive Integrity Assessment of Public Institutions" announced by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
On December 23, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education held an emergency countermeasure meeting and announced plans to implement strong improvement measures aimed at establishing a culture of integrity.
In this assessment, the overall integrity rating for the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education was recorded as Grade 4. In particular, the perceived integrity level, which reflects how both civil petitioners and internal staff experience integrity, dropped to Grade 5.
On the other hand, the integrity effort score, which evaluates anti-corruption initiatives and policy implementation, remained at Grade 3. The office explained that it received a score of 91.6 in this category, surpassing both the average for metropolitan and provincial education offices (90.1 points) and the overall average for public institutions (84.8 points).
This result reflects a downward trend in integrity ratings over the past few years. The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education achieved a Grade 2 rating in the 2023 comprehensive integrity assessment by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, marking a significant improvement from the previous year. However, the rating dropped to Grade 3 in 2024, and then fell again to Grade 4 in this latest assessment.
In response, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education plans to expand field-oriented policies to improve perceived integrity in core areas such as the operation of school sports teams, construction management, and budget execution. By early next year, the office aims to introduce robust measures to structurally reform unreasonable practices and drive tangible changes in the educational field.
Superintendent Kim Daejung expressed a deep apology via social media, stating, "I sincerely apologize for the integrity assessment results not meeting expectations," and added, "I am also sorry to all the members of the education community who have worked so hard on the front lines."
He emphasized, "We will listen more closely to the voices of our education community, create sports teams where students can learn joyfully and pursue their dreams, and foster an organizational culture of communication to eradicate abuse of power and unfair directives." He further pledged, "Going forward, we will regularly release all improvement tasks, schedules, and implementation results to restore the trust of the residents of Jeonnam."
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