Education Sector in Uproar Over Paek Honggeun's Hint at Education Grant Cuts: "All-Out Opposition Across the Board"

As the government has hinted at revising the Local Education Finance Grant (education grant) as part of its plan for "comprehensive expenditure restructuring without sanctuary," the education sector is emerging as a key flashpoint in the upcoming budget debates, with education groups vowing an all-out opposition starting with official statements.

On the 21st, Paek Honggeun, Minister of Strategy and Finance, was holding a press conference. Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

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According to the education sector on April 24, the Council of Education Superintendents of Korea-a body representing the superintendents of 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide-will soon issue an official statement directly refuting the logic behind revising the education grant system. A representative of the council stated, "The purpose is to prevent distorted media reports suggesting that the education grant is being managed recklessly, as well as to block moves by fiscal authorities to reduce the grant." The council also mentioned, "We expect to release the statement as early as next week," and added, "After the June 3 local elections, the newly elected education superintendents from each region will visit the National Assembly and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to voice their opposition in person."

The council is a statutory body established under the Local Education Autonomy Act, and the current Minister of Education, Choi Gyojin, who was the chair in 2022, also strongly opposed the revision of the education grant at that time. The mood among teachers’ organizations is also tense. A representative of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, the country’s largest teachers’ group, said, "Regardless of political affiliation, the consensus in the education sector is that we cannot agree to a revision that reduces the education grant, and if discussions become more concrete, we will have no choice but to mount a full-scale opposition."

The reason for the education sector’s pushback, even though no decision has yet been made on the education grant revision, is that the government’s recent moves are raising alarm. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has already announced its intention to carry out "comprehensive expenditure restructuring without sanctuary," including targets to cut mandatory spending by 10% and discretionary spending by 15% in next year’s budget guidelines. Paek Honggeun, Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated that the scale of expenditure restructuring would be 50 trillion won, and at a recent press conference remarked, "The school-age population has declined significantly, and the financial situation of local education is relatively sound compared to the central and local governments." He further indicated a possible revision of the education grant system, saying, "We will seek alternatives through national public debate."

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