As South Korea pushes for regional administrative integration, the country’s top education leaders on Thursday urged lawmakers to ensure that the move toward a “megaregion” governance system does not undermine educational autonomy.
“We request that the integration proceed in a constructive manner that protects the constitutional values of educational autonomy,” said the National Association of Superintendents of Education of Korea, which represents the heads of all 17 provincial and metropolitan education offices.
During a meeting on Thursday, the group called on the government to establish a standalone “Special Integration Education Grant,” warning that the absence of clear budget guarantees in the current integration proposal could lead local education offices to implement their budgets more cautiously.
“An integration that lacks stable fiscal foundations could lead to the downward leveling of education,” the association said in a statement. “We urge the government to go beyond an approach that merely guarantees prior budget levels and to create and codify a ‘Special Integration Education Grant’ to enable a qualitative leap in education in integrated cities.”
The association also requested that the number of vice superintendents be increased from two to at least three in all districts, citing the need for more officials to better “hear voices from the field” as integrated regions would cover larger administrative areas.
Education leadership in ‘megaregions’ a topic of dispute
The governance structure of education offices in newly integrated regions has emerged as a key issue in debates surrounding regional integration.
Some have called for a single education superintendent to oversee education in the new regions, arguing that having more than one would run counter to the purpose of integration, while others say at least two would be needed to prevent certain areas from being excluded from local education policies.
As a compromise, others have proposed expanding the number of vice superintendents while maintaining a single superintendent per administrative region.
However, regions not undergoing integration have also raised calls for more deputy-level officials.
“Some regional education support offices serve a maximum of 100,000 students, while some support offices in our city oversee more than 1 million students,” Seoul Education Superintendent Jung Geun-sik said Wednesday during a New Year's press event.
“Wouldn’t the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also need one more vice superintendent?” he added.
The association of superintendents expressed concern over plans to publicly recruit heads of local education support offices, warning the move could politicize local education administration.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin, who observed Thursday’s meeting, told education chiefs that the government intends to appoint one superintendent per newly integrated district, while emphasizing plans to establish an auxiliary body and provide financial support.
“I ask for your cooperation so that administrative integration can proceed smoothly,” Choi said.
“The Education Ministry will work with superintendents and the National Assembly to address concerns in the education field,” he added.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
