Education Committee, Debate Over 'Excluding Killer Questions'... Passage of the 'Jeong Sunshin Prevention Act'

"Confusion Among Examinees Intensifies" vs "Killer Questions, Chronic Problem in Our Education"
Jeong Sunshin Prevention Act Allows Reporting if Action Delayed Against Perpetrating Students

On the 27th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed in the National Assembly standing committee over President Yoon Seok-yeol's remarks instructing the exclusion of 'killer questions.'

On the same day, Yoo Ki-hong, a Democratic Party lawmaker, pointed out that President Yoon's remarks on killer questions "raise concerns about political misuse of killer questions."

He criticized, "Examinees become more confused, which ironically encourages private education," adding, "After the killer question remarks, the issue of school violence involving Special Advisor Lee Dong-gwan's son completely disappeared from the media. It was a case of covering one issue with another." He continued, "The demand for private education may increase due to the retention of specialized high schools, autonomous private high schools, and international high schools, but concealing this and solely blaming the proliferation of private education on killer questions is problematic."

Yoo Ki-hong, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, at the Education Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Kang Deuk-gu, a Democratic Party lawmaker, also questioned, "Is it appropriate for the president to directly deliver a message about the CSAT just five months before the exam?" and Seo Dong-yong scrutinized, "Among the killer questions disclosed by the government, there are also questions linked to EBS. This shows how inadequate the government's killer question and CSAT private education measures are."

While the Democratic Party pointed out that the sudden change in CSAT question setting is increasing confusion on the ground, the People Power Party rebutted that excluding killer questions is laying the foundation for the normalization of public education.

Jeong Kyung-hee, a People Power Party lawmaker, said about killer questions, "Ultimately, they have expanded the private education market," adding, "They pull students into the private education market, forcing them to pay high private education fees and putting a heavy burden on parents."

In response, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, apologized, saying, "It is an old practice and a problem that has not been fixed for decades. Despite President Yoon's instructions, we could not resolve it quickly," and "I apologize for the inconvenience caused to parents and students due to the delayed measures." Regarding opposition criticism of the inappropriateness of President Yoon's remarks, he said, "I believe this is a process of correcting parts where principles were not followed," and added, "The remarks were appropriate."

On the same day, the so-called 'Jeong Soon-shin Prevention Act' was also passed in the Education Committee. The amendment to the Act on Prevention and Countermeasures against School Violence aims to strengthen the role of educational field officials by allowing victims or their guardians to report if disciplinary actions against students who commit school violence are delayed.

According to this amendment, if the superintendent of education or school principal delays or fails to take action or discipline against students who commit school violence, the victim or their guardian can report this to the superintendent, who must immediately conduct a related investigation.

Additionally, an amendment to the School Violence Countermeasure Act was passed, requiring that when a School Violence Countermeasure Committee meeting is held, the victim is notified of the meeting results so they can be well informed of the progress.

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