Is the Establishment of the National Education Commission Being Accelerated? Ministry of Education and National Council of Provincial and Metropolitan Education Superintendents Adopt Joint Resolution

6th Education Autonomy Policy Council Meeting Held
Discussion on Strengthening Local Decentralization and Mutual Cooperation
Legal Amendment to Enable Superintendent Resident Referendum

At the 6th Education Autonomy Policy Council, Co-Chair Yoo Eun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, is delivering the opening remarks. (Provided by the Ministry of Education)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The establishment of the 'National Education Commission,' an advisory body directly under the President, is expected to gain momentum.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Education held the 6th Education Autonomy Policy Council (Gyojahyeop) and announced on the 31st that a joint resolution for the establishment of the National Education Commission was adopted.

Gyojahyeop is a consultative body established in 2017, led by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Council of Superintendents of Education, to systematically promote education autonomy in areas such as local decentralization in education and academic affairs, and school democracy. This meeting was the first held since the inauguration of the 8th Korea Council of Superintendents of Education in July.

On this day, Gyojahyeop agreed to form a joint consultative body including the National Education Council to jointly discuss strategies and practical measures for establishing the National Education Commission. They plan to discuss ways to build a cooperative educational governance system to strengthen autonomy in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education and decentralize the curriculum.

They also decided to promote improvements to the education autonomy system centered on the revision and enactment of laws to effectively guarantee autonomous activities at school sites. To this end, a Legal Revision Expert Committee will be formed and operated under Gyojahyeop. Furthermore, they plan to create a system for curriculum organization and operation linked among the national, local, and school levels.

Additionally, to enhance the operation of school operation committees centered on students and parents, they plan to allow student members to participate in school operation committees, promote the institutionalization of private school operation committees as deliberative bodies, and expand the autonomy of provinces and cities regarding the composition ratio of members and training of committee members through amendments to the Elementary Education Act. They also plan to revise laws under the Ministry of Education’s jurisdiction to reduce the burden of cross-curricular learning and introduce provisions allowing superintendents of education to hold resident votes on education and academic affairs.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary to make efforts for a major transformation based on autonomy and decentralization in the education sector," adding, "Along with efforts to establish the National Education Commission, bold institutional reforms must be made to realize school democracy." Choi Kyo-jin, co-chairman and president of the Korea Council of Superintendents of Education, said, "We expect Gyojahyeop to become a touchstone for realizing education autonomy based on trust in the education community."

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