Jeonnam Residents and Parents Prioritize Superintendent Jang Seok-woong's Top Task as 'Safe Schools'

The Jeonnam Education Policy Research Institute conducted a public opinion survey last month targeting Jeonnam residents and parents. Photo by Jeonnam Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Residents and parents of Jeonnam selected "safe schools" as the top priority task that Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Jang Seok-woong should focus on during the remainder of his term.

The Jeonnam Education Policy Research Institute announced on the 30th that it conducted a public opinion survey at the end of last month targeting Jeonnam residents and parents on the "top priority tasks that the Jeonnam Superintendent of Education should focus on."

The survey results showed that "creating a safe school environment" was ranked first with 60.2%. This was followed by strengthening customized career and vocational education (36.4%) and enhancing educational welfare (26.7%).

The choice of creating a safe school environment as the top priority is analyzed to be due to the increased importance of health and safety influenced by COVID-19.

This survey was conducted to evaluate the innovative education policies implemented over the past two years since the launch of the third direct election term of Jeonnam education and to explore desirable policy directions for the future.

Through the survey, satisfaction with the "Innovative Jeonnam Education Policy that values everyone," evaluation of transparent budget execution and clean educational administration, obstacles to stable educational administration, opinions on the resident-recommended education superintendent appointment system, and satisfaction with the superintendent’s "Listening Olle" were also investigated.

Regarding satisfaction with the "Innovative Jeonnam Education Policy that values everyone," positive evaluations of satisfaction (61.8%) outnumbered negative evaluations of dissatisfaction (22.0%).

Evaluation of transparent budget execution and clean educational administration showed satisfaction (60.5%) was higher than dissatisfaction (18.8%).

Respondents cited passive educational administration (22.2%) and lack of educational budget (21.5%) as obstacles to stable educational administration. This was followed by communication issues with the provincial council and local governments (16.0%), lack of parental participation in school education (12.3%), and excessive external interference and control (9.4%).

The "resident-recommended education superintendent appointment system" received majority support for expansion. Support for expansion (68.9%) was divided into those who believe it should be expanded further (28.7%) and those who believe it should be expanded gradually (40.2%), surpassing the opinion that it should be reduced (12.3%).

Regarding the superintendent’s "Listening Olle," where the superintendent visits residents and parents monthly to listen to opinions on local educational issues, satisfaction (62.4%) exceeded dissatisfaction (17.9%) by 44.5 percentage points.

Jung Chan-gil, director of the Jeonnam Education Policy Research Institute, said, "Based on the results of this survey, we hope that 'Innovative Jeonnam Education that does not give up on any child' will strictly accept the wishes of residents and parents, realize healthy and safe school education after COVID-19, and serve as an opportunity to move toward future education."

Meanwhile, this survey was conducted by HanGil Research Co., Ltd. from the 19th to the 27th of last month, targeting a total of 1,400 people, including 700 men and women aged 18 or older residing in Jeonnam and 700 parents with children in kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school.

The survey was conducted using structured questionnaires via telephone interviews and an automated response system (ARS) at a 5:5 ratio. The sample was allocated by gender, age, and region according to population proportion, and the sampling error is ±2.61 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

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