National Education Commission Delays Draft Education Development Plan Announcement... "Announce It This Year"

The National Education Commission has decided to postpone the announcement of a draft of its mid- to long-term National Education Development Plan, including proposals to reform the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The decision reflects its view that more time is needed for public deliberation and discussion, as the draft includes numerous key issues on which opinions are sharply divided, such as introducing written and essay-based assessments in the CSAT.

National Education Commission Chair Cha Jeong-in answers questions from lawmakers during a parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Education, the National Education Commission and other agencies held by the National Assembly's Education Committee on the 7th. Yonhap News

On October 21, the National Education Commission held its 11th meeting at the Government Complex Seoul and passed a motion to postpone the announcement of the draft “2028-2037 National Education Development Plan.” As a result, the release of the draft, originally scheduled for the end of this month, has been pushed back to sometime this year, though no specific announcement date has been set.

Cha Jeongin, chair of the National Education Commission, said, “The purpose of the delay is to ensure that the draft contains sound proposals. We should move quickly, but I think setting a firm date could be burdensome.” The commission had initially planned to release the draft at the end of October, gather public opinion, and finalize the reform proposals in March next year. However, calls for sufficient time for review have continued to be raised both in the education sector and within and outside the commission.

The main reason for the delay is the difficulty surrounding proposed reforms to the university admissions system, a key pillar of the National Education Development Plan. The commission’s special committee on the university admissions system, led directly by Chair Cha, has focused on considering the introduction of written and essay-based assessments in the CSAT and increasing the weighting of school grades in student records. However, it has been unable to reach consensus amid sharp disagreements among commission members and deeply divided opinions in the education sector and among the public.

At the meeting, members repeatedly said that gathering sufficient public opinion should take priority. Standing Commissioner Kim Gyeonghoe noted, “It is time to assess whether it is possible to announce the draft at the end of October,” adding, “Several contentious issues remain, and we also need to gather and consider the views of central government agencies and local governments.”

Commissioner Park Younghwan then said, “There are many issues that require thorough deliberation, the gathering of opinions, and public discussion,” adding, “What schools and the public want is not an announcement as soon as possible, but a better vision for education in South Korea than what we have now.” He formally proposed postponing the draft.

In the vote, commission members unanimously agreed to postpone the announcement of the draft. However, two options for the future schedule - announcing it this year or postponing it indefinitely - were put to a vote, and the “announce it this year” option was adopted by a vote of 10 to 6.

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