Jeong Seok-woong, Jeonnam Superintendent of Education, Expresses Determination to Boldly Reform Teacher Personnel Affairs

Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Jeonnam Education, announced a reorganization of teacher personnel through an expanded executive meeting on the 10th. (Photo by Jeonnam Office of Education)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Education for Jeonnam Province, revealed a strong and resolute will for innovation regarding the regular appointment of school principals and announced plans to reform the personnel system.

At the expanded executive meeting held on the 10th, Superintendent Jang said, "As a partner in the innovation of Jeonnam education, the role of school principals is very important, but there have been many regrets regarding the appointment of school principals so far."

He continued, "The current personnel system is not unrelated to the stagnation of Jeonnam education," and stated, "As soon as this regular teacher appointment ends, we will begin a strong and resolute innovation of the teacher personnel system."

Superintendent Jang said, "We will promote a new breeze, new wave, and fresh spirit through competency-centered appointments, and will also innovatively change the evaluation indicators for principals," adding, "The current school principal personnel system structurally blocks this."

He expressed, "One of the most frequent requests from residents, parents, and alumni is to 'send good principals,' but there is almost nothing the superintendent can do," lamenting the situation.

He added, "From the perspective of personnel appointments for school principals, the superintendent's authority is extremely limited," explaining, "This is due to the structural limitations of the score-based rotational principal appointment system implemented since 2010."

Regarding the rotational system, Superintendent Jang pointed out, "After 10 years, various drawbacks have appeared," and criticized, "If one works for a long time in rural or island areas, they can be automatically assigned to so-called popular schools without effort, leading to complacency. Although times have changed, outdated practices remain."

Superintendent Jang emphasized, "Competent principals and valuable talents are unable to demonstrate their abilities and are being buried," and reiterated, "We will innovatively change the evaluation indicators for principals."

He stated, "Personnel appointments should consider individual ability and character, and through a rational and fair method, maximize the capabilities of both the organization and individuals," expressing his determination by saying, "We will partially implement this starting in September and fully innovate teacher personnel appointments in March next year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.