Lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea on the National Assembly's Education Committee are pushing back against government plans to overhaul the local education finance grant and the college entrance exam. They warn that abrupt changes could trigger widespread resistance from teachers and families, including some 500,000 teachers and 5.5 million students and parents.
On the 3rd, Democratic Party members of the Education Committee decided to oppose the government's plan to replace the current system, which allocates 20.79% of internal tax revenue to the local education finance grant, with a new formula reflecting the school-age population and economic conditions.
The lawmakers argue the existing grant framework should be maintained. If the government moves to revise the Local Education Finance Grant Act, they plan to convey their opposition to the party's floor leadership. One lawmaker said the government is rushing an issue that could bring major changes to schools, including personnel costs for teachers nationwide and budgets for student instruction. "The grant is local education funding, and the central government's attempt to manage it does not square with the government's own emphasis on strengthening decentralization," the lawmaker said.
Voices from the education sector calling for the current system to be kept in place have also been relayed to Democratic Party lawmakers, according to sources. If the linkage to internal tax revenue is scrapped, education funding could shrink depending on economic conditions, and the current framework should therefore be maintained to secure a stable revenue base, they argue.
Democratic Party members of the committee are also urging caution on the National Education Commission's proposed overhaul of the college entrance exam, which centers on introducing written-response questions. The commission has proposed expanding written-response assessments in school grades and adding them to the national exam, but the lawmakers said it is premature to push ahead when schools are not sufficiently prepared. "Even if written-response questions are partly introduced, many believe the five-choice multiple-choice format should not be eliminated," a Democratic Party official said.
