Kim Jin-pyo "In the AI Era, Public Education Takes the Lead... Efforts for Legislative and Budgetary Support"

National Assembly to Hold 4th National Issues Grand Debate on the 9th
'Education Reform in the Age of Artificial Intelligence'
Yoo Ki-hong "A Revolutionary Turning Point Needed... Proposes Education Reform Special Committee"

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo emphasized on the 9th that "public education must take the lead" in education reform in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

On the same day, Kim attended the 4th National Current Issues Forum held at the National Assembly in the morning, themed "Education Reform through Artificial Intelligence (AI), What Should We Start With?" He said, "We need to provide education that nurtures children's creativity and diversity through educational methods utilizing artificial intelligence."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim also stated that the role of teachers must change in the AI era. He said, "Teachers should not be mere transmitters of knowledge," adding, "They should act as guides who help students find their own conclusions by utilizing stored knowledge, such as through the use of ChatGPT." He continued, "If teacher training programs suited for the ChatGPT era are expanded, reliance on private education is expected to decrease," and said, "We will create laws and budgets appropriate for the artificial intelligence era."

Yoo Ki-hong, chairman of the National Assembly's Education Committee, also attended the forum and explained, "With the advent of the AI era, a revolutionary turning point must be established in education."

Yoo pointed out, "The annual AI class hours in our country are just over 100 hours. However, the United States exceeds 400 hours, and China exceeds 200 hours," adding, "There are not enough (qualified) teachers related to AI education, so proper teaching is not being conducted." He noted, "Although laws related to teacher retraining have been prepared, no breakthrough has been made," and criticized, "There are laws promoting AI education, but the likelihood of their passage in the 21st National Assembly is almost none."

He then expressed, "While a Special Committee on Political Reform (Jeonggae Teukwi) is needed in the National Assembly, an Education Reform Special Committee is also necessary." He concluded by strongly emphasizing, "I would like to reiterate the need for such an Education Reform Special Committee that can be solely responsible for passing laws and budgets promoting AI digitalization."

The event was also attended by Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, and Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Education of Seoul.

Superintendent Cho said, "As a core task of education reform in the artificial intelligence era, I fully agree with the Speaker of the National Assembly's remarks on public education innovation and strengthening teacher professionalism," adding, "We are considering, for example, introducing AI expertise into the interview process for Seoul local government employee recruitment and teacher examination processes." He added, "This is related to the Ministry of Education as well, but we are cautiously considering it."

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