Lee Jae-myung: "Social inequality stems from educational polarization... No inheritance of gold spoons or dirt spoons"

Gradual Integration of Kindergarten and Daycare, Simultaneous 3 PM Dismissal for Elementary Schools
One Digital Learning Device per Student in the Digital Era
Class Size Gradually Reduced to 20 Students... Expansion of Public Education National Responsibility
Establishment of College Admission Fairness Committee... Adjustment of Regular and Early Admission Ratios for Universities with High Early Admission Numbers

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced the 'Education Transformation' pledge on the 10th to guarantee fair educational opportunities and promised to eradicate the inheritance of 'Heuksujeo' in our society.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the same day, Candidate Lee announced the eight major education pledges of the Lee Jae-myung administration, stating, "We will build the ladder of educational opportunity more fairly and firmly."

Candidate Lee emphasized, "The beginning of social inequality and disparity stems from the polarization of education," and added, "The Lee Jae-myung administration will firmly establish state-responsible education from childcare to lifelong education."

First, for infants and elementary school students, he promised ▲gradual integration of kindergartens and daycare centers, and implementation of simultaneous dismissal at 3 p.m. for elementary schools. He also pledged to take responsibility for future competitiveness through digital transformation education, announcing plans for ▲'Training 1 million innovative future talents' in the digital era and providing one digital learning device per student. Furthermore, he announced ▲expansion of state responsibility for public education, including increasing the number of basic academic skill teachers and reducing the number of students per class to 20 starting from lower grades in elementary school. Additionally, he revealed plans to introduce ▲Regional Learning Day (Happy Friday) system, establish ▲an innovative system for regional universities, build ▲a Korean-style shared graduate school system, and transition to a lifelong learning system.

In particular, he emphasized strengthening 'fairness' regarding the college entrance examination system.

This is interpreted as being mindful of the 'double standards' controversy that arose during the current administration due to allegations of admission fraud involving the daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk.

Candidate Lee stated that he would establish and operate a 'College Admission Fairness Committee' to prevent admission fraud in early admission processes. He also added that universities with excessively high proportions of early admission would have their regular and early admission ratios adjusted reasonably.

Candidate Lee stressed, "Even if there are poor parents, there should be no poor children," and emphasized, "In Korea, the terms gold spoon and Heuksujeo should no longer be inherited."

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