Schools to Have More Autonomy in Gyeonggi
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
SUWON, Gyeonggi ― It is not only universities that are seeking globalization. Elementary and secondary schools are also expanding their horizons to the world and Gyeonggi Province education authority is spearheading this trend.
``A country with a strong manpower pool can be a world leader, and this is possible with a strong education system. In this sense, I will focus on nurturing more globally competitive students,’’ said Kim Jin-choon, 69, superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education.
Only two students from Korea gained admission to Harvard University this year, both from schools in the province.
Many students received international prizes in the province, proving the efforts of the education authority in this regard. Gyeonggi is proud to have the largest number of students in the country to be awarded prizes at the ``International Olympiad’’ in science and math.
Naksaeng High School, located in the province, won the ``World Robofest 2008 Championship,’’ in the United States last April. Last May saw Gyeonggi boast several winners at the ``Destination Imagination Global Finals,’’ a world creativity competition among gifted children.
Cheongshin International Academy recently won an award at the ``International Science and Technology Fair’’ organized by the University of Central Florida in the U.S.
The top educator in the region said autonomy is the key for global education. ``Schools should be specialized in whatever field they are best in. One school, for example, can focus on science education and another can nurture musicians,’’ Kim said.
``Schools should be diversified with various curricula and students need to choose schools according to their academic interests. For this, the autonomy of schools should be guaranteed,’’ he added.
Accordingly, school heads will have more authority in running schools. For example, public school principals will be able to work with teachers for up to 10 years at one school, Kim said. Currently, the education office rotates all public school teachers every five years.
Like similar top educators in other cities and provinces, Kim supports the introduction of a teacher evaluation system despite opposition from the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU).
``The KTU call themselves laborers and at the same time it is claiming teaching is something like the priesthood. It doesn’t make sense because laborers should be evaluated. All people in every field are not free from assessment,’’ Kim said.
Kim plans to give incentives and awards based on the evaluation results by other teachers, parents and school heads. Teachers who have poor results will not be able to work at the schools they wish in the teacher rotation system.
More Autonomy for Foreign Schools
The Lee Myung-bak administration plans to ease regulations on the formation of foreign schools. So far, only foreign individuals can establish foreign schools here in Korea, but the government recently announced that nonprofit foreign corporations and Korean educational foundations will be allowed to set up international schools from the end of the year at the earliest.
The Gyeonggi education authority is positively considering giving foreign school licenses to companies and local governments. ``The number of foreign residents is rapidly increasing and we need to set up more international schools,’’ Kim said.
``It is also good for Korean students as they can learn global practices at the schools. I believe it is a step in the right direction for the government to ease admission rules for Korean students to those schools,’’ he added.
Gyeonggi now has eight international schools. Along with the proposed plans on the establishment of more schools, the central government is considering easing admission requirements for overseas Korean passport holders from the current five years of foreign residency to three years.
Regarding concerns that children from high-income families might occupy these schools, the top educator said, ``We should seek diversity of education and remember attending the schools doesn’t guarantee success in life.’’
In return for providing more freedom to international schools, Kim vowed to oversee them more tightly and take stern action against any irregularities and corruption.
The education office also plans to build five or six specialized schools such as a foreign language high school and a science high school. ``There are two schools for gifted students in Busan and Seoul. Our province might have that kind of school by the end of this year,’’ Kim said. Gyeonggi has 18 specialized schools, the largest number in the nation.
At the same time, the education office will take more care of children from immigrant laborers. Gyeonggi is the first to have introduced classes for children of foreign parents staying here illegally.
``When I first set up classes for those children in Ansan City and Siheung City, police came to round up the parents of the children,’’ he said. ``I protested to the police because the children are not guilty. I believe education is placed above law enforcement.’’
On top of this, the education office will introduce more programs for children from interracial families to help them adapt to Korean schools.
Graduating from Incheon School of Teachers, Kim started to teacher elementary school students in 1961. Having served as vice principal at Shinpoong Elementary School in Suwon, Kim worked as supervisor at the office. He has headed the education office as the fifth superintendent since 2005.