Operational Briefing of the National Education Commission Held on December 23
"Top Priorities: Transparency and Restoring Public Trust"
Cha Jeongin, Chairperson of the National Education Commission, stated, "The Ministry of Education, the National Education Commission, and the Offices of Education must each strengthen their unique roles for Korea to become a powerhouse in education," adding, "The National Education Commission will serve to enhance cooperation among these institutions."
On December 23, Chairperson Cha held an operational briefing at the FKI Tower in Yeouido to mark his 100th day in office and made these remarks. Since his inauguration on September 13, Cha has consistently pledged to present the '100-day innovation initiatives' in the form of a public report to the nation.
On this day, Chairperson Cha said, "The most urgent tasks were ensuring transparency in the commission's operations and restoring public trust," and added, "From the very first plenary session, we opened the entire meeting process to the media for coverage and fully disclosed detailed meeting minutes, including the names of speakers." Cha believes that such transparency can resolve unreasonable issues. In addition, the Secretariat will be significantly expanded, and starting from December 30, the organizational structure will grow from 'one office and three divisions' to 'one office and six divisions.'
Chairperson Cha remarked, "The highly competitive college admissions system has hindered the achievement of national education goals," and emphasized, "In primary and secondary education, we must move toward weakening and ultimately dismantling this extreme competition system." He also stated, "Higher education must strengthen its educational and research capabilities," and explained, "Despite challenges such as the concentration of students in medical schools and the declining school-age population, Korea must establish and maintain its status as a core science and technology nation by developing long-term human resource development plans and strongly supporting them through educational policy." Additionally, he announced plans to establish effective and sustainable support and development policies for the humanities, social sciences, and arts, which are increasingly important in the era of artificial intelligence.
Chairperson Cha believes that, "In order to accomplish such educational reform, the roles of the Ministry of Education, the National Education Commission, and the Offices of Education must be clearly divided." He explained that the Offices of Education should promote regional educational development and oversee local schools, thereby realizing educational autonomy by strengthening their independence in their unique roles, while the Ministry of Education should serve as the central government body implementing national education reform agendas. The National Education Commission, he said, must provide reform-oriented direction for the implementation plans of the Ministry of Education and the Offices of Education through mid- to long-term educational policies such as the National Education Plan and National Curriculum, while also ensuring the stability, consistency, and political neutrality of educational policy.
Chairperson Cha stated, "Korea faces numerous educational challenges, so all three pillars must strengthen their unique roles for Korea to become a leading nation in education." He also emphasized, "The division of roles among the three institutions is fundamentally different from a zero-sum game," adding, "By cooperating, each can further strengthen its role, and the National Education Commission, in particular, will serve to enhance inter-agency cooperation."
Within the National Education Commission, each special committee will conduct simultaneous discussions during their six-month activity period, and joint meetings between committees will be activated to enable cross-checking.
Chairperson Cha said, "If outstanding policies are developed, we will include them in the National Education Plan to ensure policy implementation, while reconfirming their validity through consultation with the Ministry of Education and the Offices of Education. For policies that require special legislation, we will request action from the National Assembly."
He concluded, "The National Education Commission will not waste time with indecision," and added, "When faced with critical choices, we will gather wisdom and make decisions with student growth as our central focus."
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