Hearing Draws Criticism
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Presidential Transition Committee's public hearing on English education policy Wednesday caused a stir among schoolteachers, educators and others.
Some questioned the feasibility while others expressed doubts about the fairness of the meeting itself.
The team held a 200-seated hearing at its offices in downtown Seoul to gather public ideas on English friendly education.
However, their announcements brought a negative reaction from many education experts and parents.
Professor Jin Joong-kwon of Chung-Ang University criticized the project of conducting all elementary, middle and high school English classes in English after a two-year grace period for the teachers as ``insane.''
Some teachers said the project sounds ideal but not feasible. ``I cannot get students to pay attention when talking in Korean and I definitely don't think English will help either,'' a high school teacher in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, said.
``The plan will widen the gap between the rich and poor. If you don't know English before coming to school, then you won't be able to take classes, the new law means,'' another high school teacher in Seoul, said. Most teachers said the public hearing did not reflect the reality of teachers and students.
They said that there are too many students in a class and the gap in English proficiency among students was too big for any effective English lesson, adding that these structural problems need be resolved first.
The transition team excluded those who oppose their new policies and only garnered views of their supporters, some civic groups alleged.
Outside the building, there was a small clash between parents' associations trying to enter the meeting and the police preventing them. An agitated member of Parents for Truth Education said he had every right to attend the meeting. ``Does it make sense that they are trying to exclude us, the parents, from an education meeting?'' he shouted.
The progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union said the meeting should have been cancelled as the team's selection of the panel was unfair and the talks were fixed before the actual event.
``We have more than 70,000 members in the education field, but the transition team has excluded us from the talks and hearing,'' a spokesman of the union said. ``This public hearing is not for the public but is done by just few people who stand for the policies without any criticism,'' he added.
Some students also vented their frustration.
``It seems that I have to take some English lessons in private. How come everyone but us is talking about how to teach us when we are actually the ones to be taught? The transition committee has no idea what we want,'' said Ahn Se-jin, a middle school student.