New college admission system due August

President Moon Jae-in walks with former Constitutional Court President Park Han-chul, right, and former court justice Lee Jung-mi at Cheong Wa Dae after awarding them state medals, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday his administration will come up with a new college admission system by next August.

The reform represents the government’s long-term vision for education, he said.

Moon’s comment came after the Ministry of Education delayed its plan to present a new college scholastic ability test in August by a year, after concluding not only the test but also the overall admission process needs to be upgraded.

“We delayed the decision this year for more discussion and social consensus, and promised to come up with one by August next year,” Moon said in a meeting with members of the presidential committee on educational reform at Cheong Wa Dae. “Public attention is high on the college admission system, and it is also a key in the educational reform.”

He said a new system should be easy and fair. “Education is everybody’s issue; everybody has something to say about it, and it is the area for which public opinions are mixed the most. So the success of educational reform depends on whether it can win sympathy from people, especially the three main agents of education ― students, parents and teachers.”

Moon called on the committee to collect enough opinions from the agents in devising reform measures and making efforts to form a social consensus.

He also said a new long-term vision is required because the education policy of the past 20 years has been largely based on a system established during the Kim Young-sam administration (1993-98).

“But we are facing social changes that were unimaginable at that time,” Moon said. “And we are facing demographic shifts such as a low birthrate and aging society, economic changes such as the introduction of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and citizens’ higher demands for educational reform. Now is the time to present a long-term vision.”

Meanwhile, the President conferred state medals on two former Constitutional Court justices for their decades-long contribution to the nation’s judiciary.

He awarded the first-class Order of Civil Merit of Mugunghwa to former court President Park Han-chul, who retired in January, and the first-class Order of Service Merit of Blue Stripes to former justice Lee Jung-mi, who worked as an acting president of the court before retiring in March.

The two reviewed the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye earlier this year. After Park Han-chul retired in January during the review and Lee became the acting chief, the court upheld the impeachment March 10, ousting the former President embroiled in a massive corruption scandal.

It has been customary that Constitutional Court justices and heads are awarded orders from the President on retirement. But Park Han-chul and Lee were unable to do so because they retired while the presidential post was vacant. Lee retired three days after the impeachment ruling.

Moon expressed gratitude for their contribution to guaranteeing the basic rights stated in the Constitution during their over 30 years of service, including six years at the Constitutional Court.

“These orders are neither from the government, nor the President; these are from the people,” Moon was quoted as saying by a Cheong Wa Dae official.

Before the award ceremony, it was widely expected Moon and the two former justices might talk about the impeachment ruling, but other attendees at the event said they did not.