Daegu Superintendent Kang Eunhee Warns: "No Expansion of Educational Autonomy in TK Administrative Integration Bill"...Fears Decline in Education Quality After Integration

Kang Eunhee, Daegu Superintendent of Education and Chair of the Council of Superintendents of Education of the Republic of Korea, stated on February 7 that while she agrees with the intent of a wide-area administrative integration for responding to regional extinction and achieving balanced national development, she has deep concerns that the core demands of the education sector are not being properly reflected in the special bill on wide-area administrative integration currently under discussion.

The Daegu-Gyeongbuk Integration Special Bill, together with the Daejeon-Chungnam and Gwangju-Jeonnam integration bills, is scheduled to proceed swiftly at the National Assembly this week, going through a public hearing at the Public Administration and Security Committee on February 9, bill review on February 10 to 11, and a vote on February 12.

Kang Eunhee, Daegu Superintendent of Education

It is reported that, during the central government review process by bodies such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Education, and the National Education Commission on the three regional administrative integration special bills, opposing views have been raised regarding the overall content of the bills that the education sector has been continuously demanding.

According to the central government’s review, the following points have been presented: additional support for education finances will be discussed by a financial support task force after the integration; the number of vice superintendents will be limited to two national public officials; there is opposition to transferring authority over teacher staffing; there are calls to expand the authority of local education office heads; and only a minimum level of autonomy over curriculum operation will be transferred.

This direction not only fails to significantly depart from the current level of educational autonomy granted to metropolitan and provincial offices of education, but is also heightening dissatisfaction in the education sector because the bill does not clearly stipulate concrete financial measures to prepare for the surge in demand for education finances after integration.

Superintendent Kang reiterated, "The purpose of the integrated special city is to go beyond the limits of the existing local administrative governance, minimize the influence of the central government, and expand the authority of local governments to realize innovative local decentralization suited to regional conditions," adding, "To bring about real change in the field of education, it is essential to expand educational autonomy."

In particular, she stated that the integrated special law must include the following: the independence and maintenance of authority of educational autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution; maintaining the current audit authority over educational and academic affairs; a system of at least three vice superintendents, including vice superintendents appointed by the superintendent; maintaining the current organizational authority of educational autonomy; and the substantive transfer of authority over teacher staffing, personnel policies, and curriculum operation.

Superintendent Kang also stressed, "After integration, the demand for education finances is unlikely to decrease and is, in fact, highly likely to increase," adding, "We must not be content with maintaining the existing level of finances, and special financial support at the central government level is absolutely necessary."

Accordingly, she made clear her position that the special law must explicitly stipulate: a legal guarantee of education finances at a level higher than before integration; the establishment of a special integrated education grant to promote wide-area education projects; and a mid- to long-term national funding support system to close education gaps.

Superintendent Kang emphasized, "The key to successful integration is to change the reality in which people leave their regions because of education, and furthermore, to secure top-level educational competitiveness nationwide so that population can flow back into the integrated special city."

She went on to say, "After integration, Daegu-Gyeongbuk will face a range of complex issues simultaneously within an administrative district more than 32 times the size of Seoul, including education gaps and differences in the educational environment between urban and rural/fishing villages, imbalances in educational welfare benefits, and heterogeneity in personnel systems for teaching staff," adding, "If we also consider the increasing number of students with high educational needs, such as those requiring basic academic support, psychological and emotional assistance, and special and multicultural education, then without institutional backing, integration will inevitably lead not to a qualitative leap in education, but to a downward shift."

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