Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Implements Nation's First 'Academic Competency Assessment for 9th Grade Students'

Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Jeonnam Education, announced the implementation plan for the Jeonnam-type Academic Competency Assessment on the 13th in the main conference room of the government building. Photo by Jeonnam Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education will implement the Jeonnam-type Academic Competency Assessment for 3rd-year middle school students for the first time nationwide to recover from learning loss caused by COVID-19 and to leap forward with better education.

Superintendent Jang Seok-woong held a non-face-to-face policy briefing in the afternoon of the 13th at the main building's conference room and announced the implementation plan for the Jeonnam-type Academic Competency Assessment.

The Jeonnam-type Academic Competency Assessment will be conducted on the 20th by sampling 44 schools, which account for 18% of all middle schools. The remaining 82%, or 205 middle schools, can voluntarily participate in the assessment from the 20th to the 22nd.

This competency assessment will be strictly confidential to prevent comparisons by region or school. However, the Office of Education plans to use it only as an opportunity to confirm the achievement level of the curriculum expected at each level.

The assessment results will be used as feedback material for students to plan self-directed learning, as basic data for schools to improve curriculum and teaching and learning, and as data for the Office of Education to establish educational policies and support field activities to address learning loss.

After the assessment, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education plans to distribute self-directed learning guides for school transition periods and provide learning methods tailored to academic achievement levels so that students can develop self-directed learning skills on their own.

The reason the Office of Education selected 3rd-year middle school students as the assessment target is that in 2019, the year of admission, there was a lack of opportunity to understand academic achievement characteristics due to the implementation of the Free Semester System, and from 2020, the 2nd year, normal school life was difficult due to COVID-19.

Superintendent Jang Seok-woong explained, “This academic competency assessment is not a simple knowledge-centered ranking evaluation. It is a comprehensive diagnostic assessment based on subject-specific evaluation frameworks composed of domains, competencies, and contexts according to the 2015 revised curriculum.”

He added, “We prepared the Jeonnam-type Academic Competency Assessment in consultation with parents, teachers, and teacher organizations so that our 3rd-year middle school students in Jeonnam can set self-directed learning plans and supplement their lacking academic skills.”

He also emphasized, “After this academic competency assessment, we will continue to operate supplementary courses, career programs, and mentoring without interruption to ensure educational recovery programs continue. We will operate an intensive new school year period in February next year to prepare the curriculum more meticulously.”

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