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| Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, enters a press conference room with a bicycle at the office in Seoul, Wednesday, marking his first 100 days in office. The bike symbolizes balance and equilibrium in his education policy. / Yonhap |
Superintendent Cho firm in shutting down ‘elite' schools
By Chung Hyun-chae
Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, has vowed to narrow the widening educational gap to normalize school education and ensure equal opportunities for all students.
"If asked what kind of education chief I would like to be, I'll say the one who challenges inequality in education," Cho said during a press conference Wednesday marking his 100th day in office.
Cho brought a bicycle with him, one of three symbols of his education policy, to the conference room.
"Like I have to keep my balance to ride a bicycle, I will balance education policies to better educate our children," he said.
Two other symbols were a compass representing the right direction and a roundtable meaning communication.
While introducing his achievements during the first 100 days since his inauguration, he reaffirmed his plan to shut down some of the problematic "autonomous" private high schools.
Cho has vowed to close eight of the city's 14 elite schools as part of his efforts to reduce the educational gap between students of rich and poor families.
This plan has triggered a conflict with the Ministry of Education, which wants to keep all the elite schools running.
"We will announce our official position regarding the issue within two weeks," Cho said, expressing regret at the showdown with the central government.
"I feel sad the issue has overshadowed other important education agendas," he added.
Cho introduced some innovative educational policies, including a new type of "free learning" semester and the establishment of school safety rules.
"Unlike the existing free-learning semester system, which many people believe is focusing on career exploration, the new policy will provide a variety of school programs students can opt for, including club activities and fine arts or physical education, as well as career search programs," Cho said.
He said he established an ordinance containing school safety rules last week, which is one of his major achievements.
Cho also stressed that he examined 248 programs among a total of 753 education projects and scrapped 122 projects to ease administrative burdens for school teachers.
As for future plans, Cho said that he will increase the number of innovative educational districts from two to 12 in the future. The innovative educational districts are areas usually located in underprivileged regions.
They will be financially supported by the education office and municipal and provincial governments, according to Cho.
He also promised to make ordinary high schools provide various curriculums ― academic, vocational and alternative education.
"I started with a title of liberal superintendent, but I'm not able to give all the answers. Education should get away from the conflicting designs of progress versus conservatism. It only has to do with better education for nour children," the top educator continued.
"I will keep listening courteously to different kinds of people and organizations ― as many as I can ― in order to improve unequal education and strengthen public education," he added.
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