Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education "Disclosure of Basic Academic Achievement Evaluation May Be Illegal... Request for Reconsideration"

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has put the brakes on the Seoul Metropolitan Council's ordinance proposal to disclose students' basic academic skills diagnostic test results to the public.

On the 3rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education requested the Seoul Metropolitan Council to reconsider the "Ordinance on Support for Guaranteeing Basic Academic Skills by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education."

Earlier, the Academic Improvement Special Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, where the People Power Party holds the majority, proposed an ordinance that allows the Superintendent of Education to disclose the regional and school-specific results of basic academic skills diagnostic tests conducted by school principals. The committee viewed such a system as necessary to support students falling below basic academic standards, especially due to increased learning deficits caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Some expressed concerns that beyond merely disclosing test statuses, the publication of numbers that could rank schools by basic academic skills might intensify competition among schools.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is attending the 2nd plenary session of the 316th extraordinary meeting held on the 21st of last month at the Seoul Metropolitan Council plenary hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, responding to questions about city administration.
[Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education]

Although the ordinance was passed on the 10th of last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, after seeking legal advice from an external agency, judged that there might be legal issues with the ordinance's contents and thus requested reconsideration on this day.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained the reason for requesting reconsideration, stating, "Matters related to guaranteeing basic academic skills are national affairs under the Enforcement Decree of the Basic Academic Skills Guarantee Act and delegated affairs to institutions," and added, "Since the law does not delegate these matters to ordinances, we judged that it falls outside the scope of ordinance enactment."

They viewed the provision in Article 7 of the ordinance, which allows disclosure of regional and school-specific results of basic academic skills diagnostic tests, as potentially violating the "Special Act on Disclosure of Information by Educational Institutions."

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Education for Seoul, said, "We empathize with concerns about increased academic deficits and the rise in students falling below basic academic skills due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic," but added, "We will prepare a more thorough and multi-layered plan to guarantee basic academic skills through communication and cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Council."

Requesting reconsideration halts the promulgation process and can delay implementation. Within 10 days of the next plenary session, an ordinance with the same content can be submitted again. At that time, the approval requirements become stricter than before (previously a majority of attendees and majority approval). Now, a quorum of more than half of all council members must be present, and at least two-thirds must approve for passage. Since the People Power Party (76 members) already holds more than twice the number of the Democratic Party (36 members) in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, the ordinance is likely to pass even upon reconsideration.

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