Five Committees Operated by the Ministry of Education Did Not Hold Any Meetings Last Year

14 out of 35 held 5 or fewer meetings in 3 years
Korean History Information Review Committee to be abolished
Monthly committee performance to be published on website from May

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It has been revealed that five committees operated by the Ministry of Education did not hold any meetings last year. The Ministry of Education has decided to undertake a reorganization of committees with poor meeting performance or those whose member composition violates guidelines.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 2nd, out of 35 committees, 14 held five or fewer meetings over the past three years, and among them, five committees held zero meetings. These committees are the National Human Resources Committee, Early Childhood Education and Care Committee, Education Internationalization Special Zone Committee, Central Teachers' Status Improvement Deliberation Council, and Korean History Informatization Deliberation Council. Last year, the 35 committees held an average of 6.6 meetings.

The Ministry of Education plans to abolish committees whose necessity has disappeared, such as the Korean History Informatization Deliberation Council. For those whose functions need to be maintained, they are promoting reorganization by expanding meetings and changing their affiliation from the Prime Minister's Office to relevant ministries. Nine committees, including the Gender Equality Education Deliberation Council, have completed reorganization, while the Central Early Childhood Education Committee is expanding its deliberation agenda, and the Early Childhood Education and Care Committee is adjusting its affiliation to a ministry. The School Violence Countermeasures Committee is also reviewing plans to change its affiliation to a ministry.

There are also committees that do not comply with guidelines, such as those deciding youth policies without youth members or committees lacking members of a specific gender. Currently, the youth member appointed to the Student Loan Support System Deliberation Committee will turn 35 this year, exceeding the youth member age criterion of 19 to 34 years old. The Central Early Childhood Education Committee failed to have male members exceed 40%. The Ministry of Education plans to provide guidance to supplement these issues when committee members’ terms expire. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has mandated that more than 45% of private members be appointed from non-metropolitan areas, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has recommended improvements to maintain gender balance so that no specific gender falls below 40%.

The Ministry of Education will periodically inspect whether its committees are being properly operated and will start publishing committee operation performance monthly on the Ministry of Education website from May. They will provide guidelines on reorganization criteria to committees with poor meeting performance and continue reorganization efforts such as abolishing or merging committees and revitalizing operations. A Ministry of Education official explained, "Considering the COVID-19 situation, we will actively utilize video conferences and seek ways to revitalize committees with poor meeting performance by linking them with similar committees or forming subcommittees."

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