Education policy requires reform in Fourth Industrial Revolution era

By Lee Kyung-man

There are two wagon wheels of our education system: One is admissions policy, and the other is curriculum. The effective rolling of these wheels will enable creative individuals to be promoted, which will also help develop our nation.

Nowadays, certainly, attention has been concentrated on these “wheels” more than ever.

First, in admissions policy, there are two systems: one is the national exam system, which was brought about by education policy after the modernization of Korea and was focused on acquiring various advanced skills as fast as possible.

The other is the school-centered exam system (school record admissions), which has become an indispensable factor for creative individuals to survive in this age of unlimited competition.

The school-centered exam system has many good points, such as independent and subjective assessment by school records, more diverse class options and detailed student activity records, leading even to a decrease in private education due to various school activities that are exclusively up to school teachers.

In spite of this, however, there are, surely, some problems, such as inequality and educational discrimination.

However, the biggest problem is that school authorities and teachers are too passive to teach and help their students with various activities.

Still we stick to old customs, failing to implement integrated education and sticking to relative evaluation rather than absolute evaluation, which encourages private education.

Second, in education policy, there are four value criteria that have significant effects on education policy: equity, excellence, efficiency and choice.

According to U.S education policy, in the early 20th century, “equity” and “excellence” were the focus. After World War II, “equity” prevailed over racial segregation and, in the 1980s, “excellence” in school restructuring and accountability was the focus.

In the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, which promulgated the “Goals 2000: Educate America Act,” and “Race to the Top” programs, respectively, “excellence” was also the focus for better national competitiveness. According to Korean education policy, “equity” and “excellence” were top priorities in the 1980s to spur national quantitative growth.

And, in the IMF era, the nation's education policy focused more on “excellence” than “equity” or “efficiency.” It was at this time that specialized high schools started appearing. The policy for excellent education through “the Comprehensive Plan for Fostering Creative Individuals through Excellent Education,” published by the education ministry, was planned to increase excellent education for students by 10 percent by 2010.

However, there are significant differences in the excellence policies between the two nations. In the U.S., excellence in education is for all students, as seen in the motto of the George Bush administration, “Promoting Educational Excellence for All America.” In Korea, however, it is only to cultivate a few specialists.

Now, the general framework for a new educational curriculum, which started this year, aims to achieve “Fostering Creative and Integral Individuals.” Creative education with a school-centered exam system has become more important than ever.

It is said that in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, “high-quality and small-quantity batch production” is needed. That goes for education as well. For Korean education to be, or not to be, excellent ― that is the question we decide by considering whether the two wheels will roll effectively or not.

Lee Kyung-man is an English teacher at Daewon Girls' High School. He can be reached at jameskml@naver.com.