3rd Term Bid Cho Hee-yeon "Expanding Care Until 8 PM... Realizing High-Quality Public Education"

Cho Hee-yeon, Seoul Superintendent of Education, Announces Bid for Third Term
Expanding School Care Until 8 AM Starting Next Year
Korean-Style Baccalaureate and Personalized Customized Education

On the morning of the 2nd, when the school's return to normalcy, which had been slower compared to general society, began, Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, visited Seongseo Middle School in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and used hand sanitizer.
May 2, 2022. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Cho Hee-yeon, the Superintendent of Education for Seoul, officially announced his bid for a third term.

On the 2nd, Cho held a press conference at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to declare his candidacy for the superintendent election, stating, "My last approval as superintendent was the signing of the plan to expand care until 8 PM, and I have completed eco-friendly free meals not only for elementary, middle, and high schools but also for kindergartens." He added, "Over the past eight years, based on the 'normalization of public education,' I will move towards an era of 'higher quality public education.'" Cho pledged, "Starting in 2023, I will open an era of care until 8 PM," and promised to "upgrade after-school classrooms to high quality by increasing investment in instructors and operating programs tailored to the characteristics of each school."

He also said he would pioneer a 'Korean-style Baccalaureate' by adopting IB (International Baccalaureate) methodologies. This plan involves expanding the curriculum, classes, and evaluation models centered on critical thinking skills, which were developed during his tenure. He stated, "While respecting student rights by abolishing the Japanese-style exam system and avoiding excellence education for a minority, I will actively utilize an 'AI-based personalized education system' for individualized customized education." He also pledged to expand vegetarian options in school meals and eliminate GMO foods from school meals as the final step in the '5-No Meals' policy (meals free from residual pesticides, radiation, antibiotics, chemical synthetic additives, and GMOs).

Cho also proposed developing Democratic Citizenship Education 2.0, which combines democratic citizenship education with education for coexistence. The plan includes strengthening education that respects differences through real-time international joint classes where students from various countries debate and collaborate. Additionally, he intends to build an 'integrated education support system connecting inside and outside of schools' to embrace diverse types of students and expand comprehensive support for out-of-school youth.

Cho Hee-yeon has served as a professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Sungkonghoe University, as Secretary-General, Policy Chairman, and Executive Chairman of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, and as chairman of the National Professors' Council for Democratization. He took office as Seoul Superintendent of Education in July 2014 and was successfully re-elected.

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