School principal applications begin

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff reporter

A total of 435 public elementary, middle and high schools nationwide have recently begun receiving applications for headmaster positions ― a four-year term ― to start work from the second semester of 2010, which starts in September.

The process is expected to enhance transparency of the recruitment process and attract more talented applicants to the educational field.

According to the Ministry of Education, Technology and Science, 75 of them are located in Seoul, 25 in Busan, 83 in mid-sized cities and 152 in rural areas among others. More schools are considering open recruitment, it added.

Superintendents of local educational offices will oversee the recruitment, but parents and teachers will play a big role in screening the finalists, the ministry said. The management committee of the school as well as educational authorities will oversee evaluations and interviews, whereas teachers and parents will be able to monitor and vote in the selection process.

``Since a headmaster is the key person in setting the direction and guidelines for school management, parents have every right to know and decide who is the best for their children,'' ministry official Lee Won-geun said.

The ministry is planning to create a pool of talented teachers based on their competence and reputation among their colleagues and invite them to be trained as principal-hopefuls.

The application-based choice of principals is being implemented to root out corruption in the education sector, as was revealed by former superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Kong Jung-tack who received bribes from senior teachers while in office in exchange for helping them gain promotions. Kong was convicted in October and was stripped of his position.

The open call is expected to weaken the power of superintendents at regional educational offices, who have controlled the appointments of senior teachers.

In March, President Lee Myung-bak announced a set of measures to restructure the education sector, saying, ``The country's future will only be bright after we complete reform.''