Superintendents: "Let's form a TF for grant reform"... Park Soon-ae: "Collect field opinions"

National Provincial Education Chiefs Propose TF Formation to Ministry of Education
Deputy Prime Minister Park: "Higher Education Must Also Be Viewed Comprehensively"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae is speaking at the General Assembly of the National Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education held on the afternoon of the 11th at Lotte Buyeo Resort in Chungnam.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The 17 metropolitan and provincial superintendents of education proposed forming a task force (TF) to seek alternatives in opposition to the Ministry of Education's plan to reform the local education finance grant system.

At the 85th General Assembly of the Council of Superintendents of Education held on the 11th at Lotte Resort in Buyeo, Chungnam, Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Chairperson of the National Council of Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education, suggested, "Before the launch of the National Education Commission, the Council of Superintendents and the Ministry of Education should form a TF to jointly brainstorm and discuss alternatives for education finance."

Superintendent Cho explained, "The current educational conditions, from learning environments to education finances, are insufficient. This is why we expressed opposition to the recently announced local education finance grant reform plan," adding, "We need to reconsider the essence of education centered on students and create an educational vision and conditions from an integrated perspective of the present and future."

The meeting marked the first occasion where Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae met with the metropolitan and provincial superintendents. The superintendents expressed concerns about the education finance reform plan and requested efforts to secure teacher quotas considering class innovation for fostering future competencies and the high school credit system.

Minister Park responded regarding the education finance reform plan, "We will comprehensively review elementary, middle, and higher education, gather opinions from students, teachers, and parents on the ground, and strive to find the optimal alternative."

On the 7th, the government announced at the '2022 National Fiscal Strategy Meeting' its plan to reform the local education finance grant system. The grant consists of 20.97% of domestic taxes and education tax excluding transfers to the special account for early childhood education. The plan is to convert the education tax transfer into the 'Special Account for Support of Higher and Lifelong Education.' Based on this year's budget, the education tax transfer amounts to approximately 3.6 trillion won.

Furthermore, Minister Park emphasized, "Many of the pledges that superintendents want to pursue align in many areas such as closing the education gap, strengthening educational welfare, transitioning to future education, and student safety," adding, "Among the new government's national tasks are strengthening SW·AI education, improving basic academic skills, and enhancing care, which are not different from the superintendents' pledges. This is why communication and cooperation between central and local governments, and among regions, are increasingly necessary."

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