(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Noh Jae-hyeon = The brakes have been put on a plan to extend class hours for lower grades of elementary school and have them dismiss at 3 p.m.
The National Education Commission, an administrative committee under the President, decided not to proceed with the process of collecting public opinions on the plan to dismiss lower grades of elementary school at 3 p.m. at the general meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 10th. In a vote in which 16 members of the Committee on State Affairs participated, 11 were against and 5 were in favor.
Lee Bo-mi, a member of the National Education Commission and former chairman of the Federation of Teachers' Trade Unions, pointed out at the meeting, "Currently, schools are structured so that care can be provided starting in the morning, and the negative impact of asking children to attend classes until 3 p.m. has not been taken into consideration at all."
In its preliminary review opinion, the 'Specialized Committee on Collecting and Coordinating Public Opinions' of the Committee on Political Affairs said, "At this point, the nature of the issue and policy direction have not been sufficiently resolved," and "Rather than starting the process immediately, a process of systematically organizing related discussions needs to take precedence."
However, he added, “Expanding the dismissal time for lower grades of elementary school requires sufficient discussion in the future as there is high social interest surrounding the issue of gaps in care.”
Accordingly, the State Affairs Commission decided not to proceed with public deliberation procedures, such as collecting opinions on the '3 o'clock dismissal system'.
The decision on this day was made after more than 50,000 people signed a petition opposing the 3 o'clock dismissal system, which said it had a negative impact, including psychological burden on children.
Previously, the State Affairs Commission held a policy forum on expanding educational time for lower grades of elementary school in early September, but it caused great controversy.
Teachers in the field strongly protested, saying, “The government is passing the care gap onto the schools.”
Additionally, concerns were raised that it would be too difficult for young students to take many classes at school due to the developmental characteristics of the lower grades of elementary school.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations said, "The National Education Commission's attempt to re-promote the expansion of class hours for lower elementary grades is an action that ignores the educational conditions and rationality of schools," and urged, "A full review of the desk administration that is trying to fix childcare and care issues by expanding the number of regular class hours."
As criticism poured in, Chairman Cha Jeong-in of the Committee for Political Affairs showed a cautious attitude toward the '3 o'clock dismissal system' during the National Assembly Education Committee audit last month, saying, "I consider it important that teachers are very concerned and are expressing opposing opinions."
The expansion of educational hours for the lower grades of elementary school was promoted by the Low Birth Rate and Aging Society Committee in 2018, but was aborted after controversy.
Meanwhile, on this day, the Committee for Political Affairs also released the results of an online opinion collection on the topic of 'the direction of the college entrance system to prepare for the future society.'
The survey was conducted from August 14th to 28th on the National Opinion Platform of the National Policy Commission, and approximately 60% of participants were identified as being in their 40s.
The Korean Council for Political Affairs analyzed 3,103 responses regarding the direction of the university admission system and came up with ‘nine major opinions.’
As a result of the analysis, among the major opinions, 'expansion of selection centered on the CSAT and adjustment of academic records and screening factors' was the most common with 792 cases (25.5%), and 'university admission system that does not change frequently' was the most common with 508 cases, accounting for 16.4%.
Next, 'simple college admission to relieve the burden of private education' was followed by 412 cases (13.3%), 'assessment to provide international competitiveness based on creativity' with 369 cases (11.9%), and 'assessment that asks about thinking ability instead of choosing the right answer' with 237 cases (7.6%).
In addition, in the question regarding the introduction of written and essay-type assessments for college entrance, out of 3,246 opinions, 'It is difficult to believe in fairness due to the scorer's opinion' was the most common with 754 (23.2%), followed by 'Teaching reading and writing first in school' with 708 (21.8%).
It appears that there are still major concerns about the fairness of written and essay-type evaluations.
