By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Kong Jeong-taek, 74, the current ― appointed ― superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was elected Thursday in the first city-wide election for the post that gives him a mandate to control the city’s education policy until June 2010. Only 15.4 percent out of some 8.08 million eligible citizens cast their ballots.
With Kong keeping his post, the current education policy that is often accused of being elitist will be pushed ahead with. Regarded as being right of center in political ideology, he has been trying to introduce more competition in middle and high schools with priority being placed on having middle school students choose high schools, and introducing entrance exams. The current system is geared toward an egalitarian philosophy and has middle school seniors advance to neighborhood schools without exams with the exceptions of special purpose educational establishments such as foreign-language and international schools.
Kong’s election is expected to help increase the number of elite schools. Another likely change under Kong as the city’s top education policy maker is to bring in more native English-speaking teachers.
The 74-year-old career educator graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelors degree in economics in 1957 and earned his masters in education administration at Korea University in 1976. He received an honorary doctorate of literature from Carson-Newman College in 1999.
Kong served as headmaster of Duksoo Commercial High School and president of Nam Seoul University between 1998 and 2002. In 2004, Kong was appointed as the city’s top educator.
It was the first election by Seoul residents but the 15.4 percent voting rate, the second lowest after Busan’s 15.35 percent, was considered disappointing. South Chuncheong and South Jeolla provinces also recorded lows at 17.2 percent and 21 percent, respectively. The poor voter turnout raises questions on the efficiency of electing the top educator for cities and provinces.