Positive changes needed at school
By Cho jae-hyon
Taking the helm of the education ministry is a tough job in Korea where all parents are experts when it comes to issues about how to educate their children.
Since the inception of the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2008, education policies have undergone major changes and a lot of experiments are still going on at schools.
From the introduction of the evaluation of teachers to the expansion of admissions officer system at universities, at the center of all these new and controversial educational programs is Education Minister Lee Ju-ho.
Since 2008 when he was a member of President Lee’s transition committee, he has charted and orchestrated steps to change the way schools are run, braving resistance from schools and teachers.
The new education minister, who took office at the end of August, has tried to visit as many educational institutes as possible as a means to strengthen communication with educators and parents.
He said what he will do in the remaining half of the Lee administration is solidify what has been introduced, rather than start new things.
“A lot of changes, which had been absent over the 10 years (during the past two liberal governments), took place over the past two and a half years. I recently got out more to meet many parents and teachers. And what they want is for a brake to be applied to the reform drive,” Lee said in an interview. “I will focus on solidifying the newly-introduced measures. Now is time to make sure that these policies take root firmly.”
Lee has recently trumpeted the importance of “positive changes” in the education field.
“The education sector has been overwhelmed by negative views for so long. We’ve had too many conflicts. This should be changed. What I want to accomplish most, as education minister, is to help positive changes take place at schools,” Lee said.
Among the measures that he thinks are changing schools in a positive way are the admissions officer system, the diversification of high school types, expansion of sports and arts classes, and the evaluation of teachers.
“I hope parents and teachers embrace the changes that are currently taking place at schools across the nation,” Lee said.
He said that policies adopted by the incumbent government should not be changed by the next one. “We have experienced a vicious cycle where a new government scraps what was done by the previous government. This should not be repeated.”
Lee, who has been keen on strengthening English education at public schools, said English classes are improving on the back of native teachers and high-quality Korean teachers.
Still, the education minister said the government sees no need to further increase the number of native English teachers from the current level as Korean teachers will eventually replace them in the long-term.
“I think our English classes are also changing. But we still have a long way to go before meeting parents’ high expectations. The government will continue to take various steps to boost students’ English proficiency,” he said.
The soft-spoken minister, however, is adamant about holding law-breaking teachers accountable. The ministry has ordered municipal and provincial education offices to fire or suspend dozens of members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union for illegally making donations to the Democratic Labor Party.
“That’s a matter that should be handled under the law. Teachers’ political activities are definitely illegal and the government must do as stipulated by the law,” Lee said.