(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Bo-ram = The National Education Commission has decided to postpone the announcement of the mid- to long-term national education development plan, including a plan to reform the college entrance system.
This is because it is judged that more time for deliberation is needed as it includes many issues with strong pros and cons, such as the introduction of written and essay-type assessments for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).
The State Affairs Commission held its 11th meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on the 21st and decided to postpone the schedule for announcing the '2028-2037 National Education Development Plan'.
Accordingly, the draft will be announced within the year.
A specific announcement date has not been set.
The establishment of the national education development plan will be completed by the end of March next year as planned.
Cha Jeong-in, Chairman of the Committee for Political Affairs, said, “The purpose of the postponement is to include good content in the draft, so I think speeding up the pace but not setting a date could be a burden.”
Initially, the Committee for Political Affairs planned to unveil the draft plan for the National Education Development Plan at the end of this month and confirm the reform plan in March of next year, but opinions were consistently raised within and outside the Committee that more time was needed to prepare the plan.
This is due to difficulties in the process of promoting the reform of the college entrance system included in the national education development plan.
The Special Committee on the College Entrance System of the Korean Council for Political Affairs, led directly by Chairman Cha, is considering the introduction of written and essay-type assessments for the CSAT and the expansion of academic records, but opinions are sharply divided not only among the Council members but also among the public.
Standing member Kim Gyeong-hoe said at the meeting that day, "It is time to check whether it is possible to announce the draft at the end of October," and added, "There are several issues remaining and the opinions of central administrative agencies and local governments must also be collected."
Accordingly, Commissioner Park Young-hwan said, "There are many issues that require sufficient deliberation, opinion collection, and public discussion," and suggested postponing the draft, saying, "What the school community and the public want is not a speedy announcement, but a better version of Korean education than it is now."
Commissioner Lee Hyeon also agreed, saying, “There are still some shortcomings in showing the 10-year national education development plan. There are also some areas where sufficient agreement has not been reached on major issues even within the committee members.”
The members of the State Affairs Commission unanimously agreed to postpone the proposal in a vote held by a show of hands.
However, regarding the announcement schedule, opinions were divided by 10 to 6 regarding whether to announce within the year or to make a later decision.
Standing Committee Member Kim said, “We must report to the public by at least the end of the year. If we do not set a deadline, the public may misunderstand when the announcement will be made.”
Commissioner Park said, “It is difficult to specify a date in a situation where there is no basis to judge how much time is needed for government consultation and public deliberation,” and suggested that the schedule be determined later.
