By Kang Shin-who
The liberal education superintendent of North Jeolla Province has clashed with the central government over the issue of the elite or autonomous private high schools. While progressive educators, seeking egalitarian education, oppose the schools, the Lee Myung-bak administration that focuses on elitism and competition among students, support them.
Kim Sueng-hwan, the top educator in the province, has recently decided to cancel the licenses of the two autonomous schools; Namsung High School in Iksan City and Gunsan Jungang High School in Gunsan City. The two schools were designated last May as autonomous institutes before Kim took office in June and are currently recruiting students for the next academic year.
In response to the move, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Monday it will stand firm, claiming that Kim violated the Education Law.
“Education superintendents must talk with the education minister before they designate autonomous private high schools, according to the law,” said Koo Jan-moon, a ministry official. “Unless an agreement between the education ministry and regional offices is made, education superintendents are not allowed to alter the status of private high schools,” he added.
The ministry has already delivered these warnings to the top educator and plans to take punitive actions against the regional education office.
The Education Law does not stipulate whether education superintendents have to gain approval from the ministry when they cancel licenses of the autonomous schools. It just says education authorities may change the status of the schools after assessing their performance every five years.
The government has introduced these kinds of elite schools, given greater autonomy in organizing their curricula, recruiting teachers and managing other school affairs, as part of efforts to diversify high school education. These schools are allowed to charge students tuition nearly three-fold that of ordinary schools.