Soongmoon and Shinil High Schools Retain Autonomous Status... Soongmoon Principal Appeals to Superintendent Cho for Support

Soongmoon High School Principal Appeals to Superintendent Cho Heeyeon to Withdraw the Appeal
"Jasa High Schools Also Need Support to Focus on Quality Education"

Seoul Administrative Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy, reporter Kim Daehyun] Although Soongmoon High School and Shinil High School won their lawsuit challenging the cancellation of their autonomous private high school (Jasa High School) status, they have appealed to Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon to withdraw the appeal.

On March 23, the Administrative Division 2 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jungmin) ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Dongbang Munhwa Academy and Shinil Academy, who had filed a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's decision to revoke their Jasa High School designation. Following last month's victories by Paichai High School and Sehwa High School in the same court, Soongmoon and Shinil High Schools have also secured their status as Jasa High Schools.

Immediately after the verdict, Jeon Heungbae, principal of Soongmoon High School, commented, "Although we won, I have mixed feelings. It is regrettable that we have to spend time in the courtroom when we should be focusing on students and education at school."

Principal Jeon added, "I make a final request to the superintendent. Please allow our Jasa High School to continue providing quality education to students at school," and appealed, "Until our Jasa High School is converted to a regular high school, we ask the superintendent's office to actively support us and withdraw the appeal."

He also addressed the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's stated intention to appeal the verdicts for Paichai and Sehwa High Schools last month, saying, "In fact, Jasa High Schools are schools that should be focusing on education with the support of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education," and emphasized, "Since Jasa High Schools are also under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the superintendent should help us continue to provide quality education."

Regarding the government's policy to abolish Jasa High Schools by 2025, he stated, "Superintendent Cho's educational philosophy is to usher in the golden age of regular high schools. If regular high schools function well, Jasa High Schools will also devote themselves to that kind of education."

Regarding the pending verdicts for other Jasa High Schools, he said, "The results will likely be similar," and added, "Just as Paichai and Sehwa High Schools received their verdicts first, I believe the same outcome will occur for the other Jasa High Schools."

Separately, regarding the constitutional complaint filed by 24 schools, including Jasa High Schools and international high schools, against the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that would abolish Jasa High Schools and convert them to regular high schools, he said, "I expect the constitutional complaint to yield a similar result to today's verdict."

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