Jokhyun Cho: "Gwangju-Jeonnam Administrative Integration Must Be Premised on 'Educational Balance'"

As the 'Jeonnam·Gwangju Administrative Integration Special Act' has passed the National Assembly and its enforcement ordinance is being pre-announced, the debate over integration is accelerating. Amid this, a claim has been raised that institutional mechanisms to ensure balanced education-such as 'special provisions for education in rural and fishing villages'-are essential for the integration to succeed.

Okhyun Cho, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member (Democratic Party of Korea, Mokpo 2), stated during a five-minute free speech at the 398th extraordinary session plenary meeting on April 21, "The success or failure of administrative integration depends on educational balance," highlighting this point.

Assembly Member Cho said, "While I agree with the purpose of integration to strengthen competitiveness at the regional level amid population decline and the risk of local extinction, integration that fails to address educational disparities could actually create a new imbalance."

Okhyun Cho, Former Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

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He pointed out the different educational environments currently faced by the Jeonnam Office of Education and the Gwangju Office of Education. Cho explained that while Gwangju has a concentrated, urban-type educational infrastructure, Jeonnam is characterized by a broad living area and low population density, focusing on rural and fishing village communities.

Assembly Member Cho emphasized, "In Jeonnam, where the school-age population continues to decline and the number of small schools is increasing, rural and fishing village schools are not just educational institutions-they are core infrastructure for maintaining local communities. If schools are weakened, local extinction will only accelerate."

He continued, "It is absolutely unacceptable for the foundation of Jeonnam's education to be shaken by a simple reorganization focused solely on efficiency in the allocation of budgets, teachers, and educational facilities without fully considering these differences."

Accordingly, Assembly Member Cho presented three concrete directions that the relevant authorities should reflect in the future integration process: ▲ Explicitly stipulate 'special provisions for education in rural and fishing villages' in the integration special act or related laws; ▲ Establish mechanisms to ensure a minimum level of education budgets by region; ▲ Redesign the functions of small schools-not merely as targets for consolidation, but by transforming them into complex educational hubs, expanding joint curricula, and building digital-based teaching systems.

He defined integration as "not merely the merger of administrative units, but a matter of how we allocate and guarantee opportunities for our children." He added, "Only integration based on educational equity can serve as a turning point that enhances sustainability; thus, the unique characteristics of Jeonnam's education and the realities of rural and fishing village communities must be institutionally guaranteed."

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