By Nam Hyun-woo
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Ministry of Education can order a provincial education office to abide by its ordinance regarding a teachers’ competency evaluation plan.
The court sided with the ministry in a suit filed by the Jeollabukdo Office of Education, which claimed the ministry’s order to carry out teacher evaluations in line with the ministry’s guidance infringed upon the local office’s autonomy.
The suit was brought against the ministry’s order for the office to revise its evaluation plan for teachers in North Jeolla Province according to the ministry’s ordinance.
“The ministry’s implementation order is just, since the provincial educational office neglected its responsibility to conduct teachers’ competency evaluations,” the court said in its ruling.
In January 2011, the education ministry introduced the evaluation plan. The ministry’s initial plan was that teachers should mutually evaluate each others’ performances and also be appraised by parents and students. Based on the results of the evaluation, teachers would be offered specific training programs to address any shortcomings.
The Jeollabukdo Office of Education submitted its own plan that excluded principals and vice-principals from evaluation and offered its own training program to address deficiencies in teachers’ skills.
The ministry ordered the office to correct that plan as it was counter to the ministry’s ordinance. The provincial office filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court in response.