Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education and Democratic Party Jeonnam Provincial Committee Urge Withdrawal of Teacher Quota Reduction

Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Kim Dae-jung and Jeonnam Democratic Party Chairman Shin Jeong-hoon Issue Joint Statement

Former Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Kim Dae-jung and Shin Jeong-hoon, chairman of the Jeonnam Provincial Party Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a statement urging the withdrawal of the teacher quota reduction.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Kim Dae-jung, Superintendent of Education for Jeonnam, and Shin Jeong-hoon, Chairman of the Jeonnam Provincial Party of the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a joint statement on the 13th urging the withdrawal of the reduction in the number of public school teachers.

The Ministry of Education recently notified that it will reduce the number of teachers in Jeonnam next year by 50 in elementary schools (0.9%) and 279 in secondary schools (4.4%).

Superintendent Kim and Chairman Shin criticized, saying, "The Ministry of Education's unilateral large-scale reduction notification is a push-through administration that does not reflect the educational conditions of Jeonnam, which has many small rural schools."

In their joint statement, Superintendent Kim and Chairman Shin demanded ▲stable supply and demand of teachers ▲the establishment of a mid- to long-term teacher supply plan reflecting Jeonnam's conditions.

They argued, "Reducing the number of students per class is urgently needed to guarantee the learning rights of Jeonnam students, create a pleasant and safe educational environment, and support student-tailored growth," adding, "Increasing the number of classes and securing the number of teachers is absolutely necessary."

They continued, "Assigning teacher quotas solely based on student numbers without reflecting the characteristics of many small schools is completely unsuitable for Jeonnam's educational conditions," and pointed out, "The impact one teacher has on children cannot be explained by economic logic. Reducing the number of teachers directly contradicts the current government's education policy goal of 'nurturing future talents through creative education.'"

Furthermore, they emphasized, "In regions like Jeonnam where hiring temporary teachers is difficult, it is by no means a reasonable alternative, so securing the number of teachers must come first," and stressed, "Autonomy should be granted to provincial superintendents to designate and utilize temporary teachers outside the quota on a temporary basis in response to teacher quota reductions."

They reiterated, "Reducing the number of secondary school teachers in Jeonnam will lower the quality of educational services, devastate local education, and ultimately lead to regional extinction."

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