[2026 National Assembly Audit] Jeong Geunsik: "Grant Reform Must Reflect Actual Education Costs and Future Needs"

National Assembly Education Committee Audit on October 14

Jung Geunsik, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said on October 14, regarding the government’s planned reform of the local education finance grant system, “Please give careful consideration to ensuring that the system reflects not only changes in the school-age population but also actual education costs and future education needs in a balanced way.”

Jung made the remarks in a work report on the state audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and other institutions before the National Assembly’s Education Committee that day.

Jung identified strengthening the safety net for foundational academic skills, systematizing AI and digital education, and protecting teachers’ educational activities as key priorities for Seoul’s education system.

“We will strengthen the safety net for foundational academic skills through the Seoul Learning Diagnosis and Growth Center, and expand public education’s responsibility from the very start of a child’s learning through the integration of early childhood education and care and the expansion of special education,” Jung said. Regarding education for future competencies, Jung added, “While systematizing AI and digital education, we will also strengthen education in reading, discussion and writing—the foundations of critical thinking—as well as education for ecological transition.”

Jung also said the office would strengthen support for students’ mental health by expanding the number of professional counselors and establishing Mind Recovery Schools, and would address conflicts within schools through an educational approach by using a deliberation period for relationship restoration.

“Stable education financing and adequate teacher staffing are the foundation of all these policies,” Jung said.

“Even if the number of students declines, the value of each student’s life never diminishes,” Jung stressed. “The responsibilities schools must shoulder—including foundational academic skills, mental health, special education and the improvement of aging facilities—are, in fact, growing.”

Jung added, “I earnestly ask the committee members for their interest and support to ensure that teacher staffing levels are determined based on actual education needs.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.