GYEONGJU ― South Korea and the United States will work together to address school violence and improve student performance, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Anthony Miller said.

He met with Education Minister Lee Ju-ho on Monday on the sidelines of the fifth APPEC Education Ministerial Meeting in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

“Ensuring the creation of a safe environment for our students is a common issue,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald following the meeting.

“We recognized that even though our systems may be different in structure, our challenges are in some ways similar,” Miller said.

“Bullies exist not just because they are bullies but because the system tolerates them.”

The two officials agreed to step up cooperation against school violence including sharing knowledge and conducting a joint research initiative on preventive measures.

The U.S. government has been trying to tackle school bullying by collecting relevant data and enhancing teachers’ sensitivity to school violence.

With its long history as a melting pot, he said, the country has also faced a long history of discrimination and challenging practices.

“But we’ve learned that you can in fact educate about tolerance and address stereotyping problems,” he added.

He said the two officials also discussed the joint study on policies to turn around low-performing schools and students.

“We can judge an education system not just by its average schools or just by best schools, but how our countries approach the lowest achieving schools,” he said.

“It’s an area Korea has focused on and we’re also focused on, and now we’re sharing it,” he added, noting that the two governments agreed to hold a joint seminar on May 24 in Seoul.

Prior to joining the Department of Education in 2009, the deputy secretary worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District and various private businesses.

Miller, who was visiting Korea for the first time, also said that he was eager to learn from the Korean education system.

He said that President Barack Obama often talked about the education fervor that has contributed to South Korea’s rapid economic development in recent decades.

“I’m looking forward to learning about what the Korean education system has achieved in a relatively short period of time,” he said.

“Korea’s achievement forces everyone to re-examine some of their assumptions and principles to re-engage in what is possible,” he added.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)