(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Bo-ram = National Education Commission Chairman Cha Jeong-in, who is considering reforming the college entrance system, including the introduction of the written and essay type of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), announced that the timing of announcing the draft reform plan may be postponed.
In response to a related question from Rep. Lee Joo-young of the New Reform Party during the National Assembly Education Committee audit on the 7th, Chairman Cha responded, "There is discussion about whether we should prepare a little more and delay the announcement of the original plan in October."
He explained, “Rather than announcing a draft plan with insufficient public discussion, I think it would be better to discuss at least the college entrance system with more public discussion and announce it,” and added, “Members of the National Education Committee have also said, ‘Then let’s discuss it formally.’”
Originally, the National Policy Commission planned to announce the '2028-2037 National Education Development Plan', including a plan to reform the college entrance system, around the end of October and confirm the reform plan in March of next year.
To this end, public debate was held by holding a deliberation forum for the National Participation Committee regarding the introduction of the essay/essay format for the CSAT, the expansion of the essay/essay format for school transcripts, and the absolute evaluation of the CSAT.
However, as many opposing opinions were raised not only among the People's Participation Committee but also among the members of the Committee for Political Affairs, some voiced that a more public deliberation process was needed.
At the National Assembly audit on this day, concerns arose about the direction of the reform of the college admissions system.
In particular, there were a series of inquiries as to whether fairness in grading could be guaranteed when written and essay-type questions were asked in the CSAT.
The State Affairs Commission is considering a plan where artificial intelligence (AI) primarily grades and teachers review the scores, but some lawmakers argue that the scoring results cannot be completely trusted unless it is a multiple-choice test.
In response to a related question from Rep. Kim Jun-hyuk of the Democratic Party of Korea, Chairman Cha emphasized, "I recognize that the introduction of essay and essay formats requires very careful preparation and requires a considerable period of preparation."
He explained, “We are considering a plan to expand written and essay-type tests starting with internal records and implement them for a considerable period of time so that public education can sufficiently prepare for them. Since this is not a problem that can be solved in one to two years, we need to go through a long preparation period in consultation with the Ministry of Education and the Office of Education.”
In response to the criticism that the introduction of the written and essay format of the CSAT may encourage private education, Chairman Cha said, "It is true that the issue of private education is the biggest concern in pushing for reform," but added, "If the content of the academic achievement test and the CSAT are aligned, it could be a breakthrough to solve the private education problem."
He added, “The reason why the current essay test is highly dependent on private education is because schools do not prepare for university-specific essay tests at all.” He added, “For this system to be successful, schools must prepare for (written and essay-type tests) for a considerable period of time and the public’s trust in them increases. We are preparing with such a high goal.”
Chairman Cha again emphasized that despite various issues, the introduction and expansion of written and essay-type evaluations is necessary.
He said, “It is essential for children who will live in the future society to have more high-level thinking skills than they do now, but the current multiple-choice system has its limits,” and added, “It is time to think about whether to continue the multiple-choice system for another 10 or 20 years.”
However, there is strong criticism even within the National Policy Committee that Chairman Cha directly leads the Special Committee on the University Admission System and sets the direction of the reorganization in advance, demanding that members play the role of a de facto handshake.
In response to Kim Hee-jung, Chairman of the National Assembly Education Committee, who said that this reform plan was a so-called 'dapjeongner', Chairman Cha explained, "Last July, I reported a plan containing the direction of the college admissions system and the public discussion process to the main committee of the State Affairs Commission." He added, "What I reported to the President (last August) was to talk about the direction that the State Affairs Commission is currently considering and pursuing."
There were also several questions about expanding class hours for lower grades of elementary school, which is being considered by the National Education Commission.
In response to People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Seong-guk's question, "Are you aware that there is strong opposition to the 3 o'clock dismissal system in the field?" Chairman Cha said, "I think it is important that teachers are very concerned and are expressing opposing opinions."
Lee Kwang-ho, a standing member of the Committee for Political Affairs, said, "Of course, the teachers' position is important, but I think that various aspects must be taken into consideration." Standing member Kim Gyeong-hoe also responded, "As the positions of each functional group are different, this is a matter to be decided after sufficiently gathering opinions."
The State Affairs Commission previously began collecting opinions on a plan to extend the dismissal time for first and second grade elementary school students from around 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Afterwards, opposition spread, centering on teachers, and there were mixed opinions among parents.
Last month, the 3 o'clock dismissal system was temporarily put on hold as more than 54,000 people opposed the 3 o'clock dismissal system. If the consent of more than 50,000 people is received within 90 days, the issue becomes subject to public opinion collection and adjustment.
The main committee of the Committee for Political Affairs plans to deliberate and decide within next month whether to proceed with the process of collecting and adjusting public opinions on the 3 p.m. dismissal system.
