Gyeongnam Superintendent Kwon Soonki Visits National Assembly: "Local Education Autonomy and Finance Must Be Guaranteed"

"Please ensure that local education autonomy is guaranteed and that the voices from the education field are reflected during the discussions to reform the local education finance grant system."

On September 7, Kwon Soon-ki, Superintendent of Education of Gyeongnam Province, together with the superintendents of Seoul, Chungbuk, Daegu, Ulsan, and Sejong, visited the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, and made this request to Education Committee members Park Junghoon, Kim Moonsu, Jeong Seongguk, and Baek Seungah.

Kwon Soon-ki, Superintendent of Gyeongnam Office of Education (right), is meeting with Paik Sung-min, Member of the National Assembly (second from left), and Lee In-sun, Member of the National Assembly, to request the assurance of local educational autonomy in the process of reforming local education finance grants.
Photo by Gyeongnam Office of Education

Subsequently, they separately met with Assemblyman Yoon Hanhong, who represents the Masan Hoewon district of Changwon in Gyeongnam Province; Assemblyman Park Sungmin of Jung-gu, Ulsan; and Assemblywoman Lee Inseon of Suseong-gu, Daegu. During these meetings, they explained the potential problems that the government's reorganization of the local education finance grants could cause for local education finance and education autonomy.

They also addressed current education issues in Gyeongnam Province, emphasizing the necessity of securing education finance to ensure stable implementation of policies tailored to local needs and to respond to the problem of regional extinction. In this context, they requested support at the National Assembly level.

In particular, Superintendent Kwon stressed, "The voices of local boards of education and those in the education field must not be excluded from the reform discussions on local education finance. The process should proceed in a way that does not undermine local education autonomy."

He added, "Going forward, I will continue close communication with the Council of National Education Superintendents and with local National Assembly members to firmly uphold education autonomy and education finance in Gyeongnam."

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