Jong-Hoon Park, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Education, "All Policies This Year Will Focus on Schools"

"In 2024, Gyeongnam education will advance future education of independence and coexistence through strengthening school educational capacity, together with the educational community, right at the field."

Park Jong-hoon, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Office of Education, said this at the New Year's press briefing held on the 2nd floor auditorium of the provincial education office on the 11th.

Superintendent Park said, "Our relentless challenge toward a new Gyeongnam education has now reached 10 years," adding, "I have never forgotten that my educational mission is to help our students develop future competencies that realize the values of independence and coexistence."

"With our innate diligence, we have established South Korea as the world's 10th largest advanced economy, but low birth rates, deepening social polarization, and environmental pollution pose major obstacles to South Korea's advancement as a developed country," he emphasized, "and education plays the most important role in solving these difficult issues."

He said, "The completion of policies is realized through student growth, and that growth takes place in schools," adding, "All policies of the education office this year will be established and implemented centered on schools."

Park Jong-hoon, Superintendent of Education of Gyeongnam, is answering reporters' questions at the New Year's press conference.
[Photo by Lee Se-ryeong]

To this end, he announced plans to ▲protect educational activities from infringement of teachers' rights and school violence ▲strengthen future education ▲practice-centered ecological transition education ▲establish new models of care.

Key related policies include ▲establishment of an education activity protection officer directly under the superintendent ▲overall management of the Teachers' Rights Protection Committee ▲placement of conflict resolution experts in the School Integrated Support Center ▲strengthening future education through activation of iTalkTalk ▲linkage with the Career Education Center for future education ▲operation of training programs for parents ▲establishment of regional ecological environment education centers ▲operation of campus-type joint schools ▲and establishment of care systems linked with local governments.

Superintendent Park explained, "Teaching and learning are the core of school education," adding, "We will introduce a new system to create schools where social issues such as infringement of teachers' rights and school violence are resolved and education worthy of the name is realized."

"When school complaints arise, the education office will promptly support schools from initial response to issue resolution so that faculty and staff can focus on their primary duties of curriculum operation," he said.

Gyeongnam Office of Education with a banner announcing the operational direction for 2024.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

He continued, "The future education of Gyeongnam Office of Education is a work in progress," adding, "Together with the Career Education Center opening early next year, we will provide systematic career and college entrance education to prepare students for the future."

"We will group all schools in Uiryeong into three zones to design curricula linked with the local community and jointly operate not only regular classes but also after-school care," he elaborated, "creating a new model of Gyeongnam-style small schools."

Furthermore, he said, "Next year, we will prepare new care models linking daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools in at least two or more cities and counties," adding, "We will devote our utmost effort to fill care gaps from parents' departure to return from work so that work and family life can coexist."

Superintendent Park emphasized, "We must not increase the burden on school sites or force the dedication of faculty and staff," adding, "We will make this year one to enhance publicness without approaching education, a public good, with the survival-of-the-fittest market logic."

"Education happens in the present, but the world our children will live in is the future," he added, "The 10 years of Gyeongnam education's efforts, which never feared change, will continue going forward."

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