Jeonnam Education Office Union Opposes Center Director Evaluation Guidelines, Citing "Loss of Fairness"

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Education Office branch of the National Public Officials Union has opposed the ‘2022 Guidelines for Handling the Evaluation of Promotion Candidates for Educational Public Officials’ announced by the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education, calling it a measure that has lost fairness.

According to the Jeonnam Education Office Union on the 26th, the Jeonnam Education Office prepared the ‘2022 Jeollanam-do Educational Public Officials Promotion Candidate Evaluation Handling Guidelines’ at the end of November last year and instructed the education support offices within Jeonnam Province.

According to the guidelines, supervisors belonging to the school support center of the education support office, such as educational supervisors and itinerant teachers, are evaluated by the center director who is a superintendent, but if the center director is a section chief, the evaluation is to be conducted by the head of the education support division.

In response, the Jeonnam Education Office Union criticized, “Why did Superintendent Jang Seok-ung appoint a department head who does not even have the authority to evaluate?” and “We cannot help but suspect that this is an attempt to merely create the appearance of assigning general staff positions appropriately.”

They continued, “It is common sense that the work evaluation of all public officials should be conducted by the department head who oversees and is responsible for the department to which they belong,” and “We want to ask which era the Jeonnam Education Office is living in, as it created guidelines that prevent section chief center directors from evaluating the work of their subordinate staff. Does the Jeonnam Education Office, which repeatedly creates such inequality, have the qualification to teach fairness and justice to students?” they protested.

Furthermore, they claimed, “Is the superintendent’s fairness and equality just empty words? The elitism of professional staff from teaching backgrounds and teachers who refuse to be evaluated by general staff at the provincial education office?does the superintendent consider all Jeonnam educators equally valuable? The superintendent must answer this.”

They also emphasized again, “According to the guidelines, should general staff refuse work evaluations in institutions where superintendents, including the education bureau, are department heads? As the superintendent’s four-year term is coming to an end, we want to ask who is continuously causing discord to prevent the formation of one team and what the reason is.”

The Jeonnam Education Office Union stated, “General staff are suffering and groaning throughout Jeonnam education due to inequality and discrimination created by bureaucrats at the provincial education office,” and strongly demanded, “The superintendent must innovate the organizational culture by appointing bureaucrats with equal and fair thinking who can coexist with general staff, who play a central role in administration.”

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