'Jo Hee-yeon Judgment Theory' Jo Jeon-hyeok "Abolish Student Human Rights Ordinance, Strengthen Constitutional Education"

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Jo Jeon-hyeok, Chairman of the Seoul Innovation and Fair Education Committee, who has announced his candidacy for Seoul Superintendent of Education, has pledged to abolish the Student Human Rights Ordinance and democratic citizenship education, while strengthening constitutional education. He also proposed resuming assessments for students' academic diagnostics and establishing specialized arts and physical education schools in each district.

At a press conference held at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 18th, candidate Jo stated, "It is appropriate to abolish the Student Human Rights Ordinance, democratic citizenship education, unification education, and labor rights education, and instead strengthen constitutional education," adding, "It is necessary to internalize constitutional rights and duties as citizens and to embody the constitution in the curriculum as democratic citizens."

Jo criticized the current administration by promoting a "judgment against Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon," saying, "Under Cho Hee-yeon's 8 years and 12 years of progressive superintendents, the country's education has degenerated into 'anti-education' that produces incompetent individuals." He argued that democratic citizenship education reflects the 'activist' concept of democracy, glorifies strikes, and teaches provocative content to children. Regarding the Student Human Rights Ordinance, he criticized that "students only claim rights, and the responsibilities accompanying those rights fall on schools, principals, and teachers."

He also clearly opposed the conversion of autonomous private high schools (Jasago) and international high schools into general high schools. Jo said, "Superintendent Cho arbitrarily changed the criteria for designating autonomous private high schools, and he should be held accountable. It costs hundreds of billions to establish a single school, and arbitrarily overturning operational standards is unconstitutional." He added, "I expect the enforcement decree containing the general high school conversion to disappear under the new government, and both President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol and I oppose the abolition of autonomous private high schools."

Jo expressed concerns about the high school credit system, which will be fully implemented in 2025. He said, "Most teachers say that conditions such as securing classrooms and instructors are not met for the high school credit system, and without resolving these prerequisites, there will be tremendous confusion." He warned, "If the high school credit system is implemented prematurely, it could lead to a disaster."

To address academic disparities, Jo pledged to resume academic diagnostic assessments for students.

He stated, "If I become superintendent, I will declare an 'education emergency' and deploy motivated and capable teachers and competitive educational managers starting from educationally underserved areas. I will urgently address the decline and gap in academic achievement in these areas." He emphasized, "Under progressive superintendents, assessments have completely disappeared, so we need to normalize assessments and diagnose students' levels."

Jo explained, "With recent advances in AI and edutech, it is possible to accurately diagnose students' abilities through mobile or computer-based tests with just a few questions, without the need for large-scale exams." He added, "Through frequent diagnostics, we should understand students' skills and proceed with individualized learning."

Additionally, he proposed establishing specialized schools focusing on physical education, music, and fine arts in each district to create a system enabling low-income students to enter arts and physical education universities.

Jo said, "Entering physical education, music, and fine arts universities is difficult without private tutoring, and private education costs are much higher than for general subjects. I will create Seoul education that allows admission through school education alone." He explained, "We will accept applications to establish one specialized school for physical education, fine arts, and music in each district, strengthen related curricula in general schools, and allocate budgets to hire professional instructors for after-school classes."

Jo was selected as the unified candidate through a vote by the Metropolitan Area Superintendent Candidate Unification Council (Gyochuhyeop) on the 30th of last month. Former Minister of Education and Science and Technology Lee Ju-ho recently declared his candidacy, and former Dongguk University professor Park Sun-young, who had expressed intentions to withdraw, agreed to unify with Lee. However, Professor Cho Young-dal of Social Education, who withdrew from the unification process, was nominated as a unified candidate through the Seoul Education Redesign Headquarters, preventing unification of conservative candidates for superintendent.

Regarding this, Jo said, "It seems people thought that if a former minister runs, others would all step down and the race would be settled, but after Lee declared his candidacy, Park Sun-young, who said she would withdraw, decided to run again." He added, "If only candidate Cho Young-dal had stepped aside, unification could have proceeded, but since Lee's candidacy, things have become chaotic. I hope they take responsibility and resolve this."

Jo served as a member of the 18th National Assembly and was a professor at Incheon National University and Myongji University. During his time as a lawmaker, in April 2010, he disclosed information about members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo) on his website, leading to conflicts with the union, including court rulings ordering compensation payments to Jeon-gyo-jo teachers.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.