Welcome to BASE21

By Kim Sung-Woo
(gaia92@dreamwiz.com)

Korea has perhaps some of the poorest school conditions in the world. About forty learners are crammed into just 90㎡ of classroom space. Indispensable school facilities, such as fitting rooms, rest areas, school cafeterias, toilets, and school stores are woefully inadequate. Other key school facility shortages are also very serious: gymnasiums are available to only 6.1 percent of students and auditoriums to just 13 percent of the total. The standard luminous intensity of Korean classrooms is just 300 Lux, which makes quite a contrast to that of America (750 Lux). What is more discouraging is that 53% of total classrooms meets this "poor" standard.

This economic aspect of the educational problem is not the single source crippling the operation of education in Korea. The "governance structure" of the schools forms another pillar by which we can grasp the issues of education reform in the Korean situation. Governance and democratization issues are most striking in the private schools, which have a different origin from those of European private schools.

Private schools in Korea make up about 40% of total secondary schools. This figure is far bigger than those in other countries. This high ratio of secondary schools was derived by the shift of the government's responsibility to the private sector during the 1970s and 1980s, a time marked by rapid industrialization and the subsequent need for many educational institutions to back up the development process. This commencement shows quite a big difference from that of other countries' private schools in that the former had been initiated as an aid to public education while the latter had been established with a view to fulfilling their owners.

This historical background of private schools has introduced several problems. Most of the private schools, except for several reputed ones, are suffering from financial instability and poor school facilities and environment. They depend on student tuition and government subsidies for most of their expenditures. They also lack transparency in school management and budget administration, which is closely connected with the authoritarian, principal- and director-centered school culture and their absolute leverage in the decision-making process. This is against citizens' hopes that private schools should attain diversity in education by implementing education based on the ideals of their foundation, and thus develop themselves in harmony with public education. In fact, recent years have seen incessant entanglements in private schools such as Duk-Sung Women's University and Sang-Mun High School.

These problems in private schools originate from the authoritarian and undemocratic school governance structure. First of all, school property is virtually regarded as personal rather than public property. Second, there is no internal organization to check the owner's (mostly the director's) irregularities or misappropriations. This void in the system of checks and balances creates various types of so-called "Education Mafias," who run their private businesses under the pretext of "realizing ideals through educational institutions."

Different Perspectives, Different Ramifications

Since the launch of the Kim Dae-Jung government, education in Korea has been facing a wave of neo-liberal government policies. Reflecting its emphasis on, or belief in, the autonomy of the market economy, and on the privatization process in all social fields, neo-liberalism is also sweeping the education sector. Noteworthy are several policies of grave concern, such as the establishment of "Independent Private High Schools" and the introduction of the "Teacher Incentive System."

Underlying these policies is the philosophy of neo-liberal education. It emphasizes "free competition" without "any external influence" in the field of education. It hysterically detests governmental intervention into the sacred sector of private education. "Let it be and let us do whatever we want to do" is the common slogan of most of the private school directors. Why? Because they established the schools with THEIR OWN money!

But education has its own characteristics demarcating itself from the pure business sector. It cannot be utilized as a way of amassing one's property. Nor can it be regarded as a company owned by several people or many shareholders. Education, like social medical service or medicare, is the core infrastructure essential for the socialization of each member of society and for the reproduction of labor power. The right to be educated is a constitutional right and the way of realizing oneself. In the case of the Republic of Korea, where the gap between the haves and the have-nots is quite wide, the citizens' right to education should be more actively secured by the intervention of state and public institutions.

Here it is evident that private school owners and the general citizen have different views on education and the educational system. And it is obvious to everyone whose viewpoint is ruining education in Korea.

Looking Close: What is happening there?

The Korea Teachers Union (KTU) points out that recent government policies are following neo-liberal, market-oriented examples of American education policies. It raises several major points in discussing the government's predisposition towards neo-liberal programs.

First, the ROK government has consistently reduced the ratio of education spending to GDP in the budget in recent years. Though the ratio of the budget bounced up to 6% in 2001, this figure is far from the figure of the public commitment made by Kim Dae-Jung as a main campaign pledge in 1997. Also, the budget is expected to drop 0.2 percent to 4.4% next year. This budget cutback in the public sector is a conspicuous characteristic of neo-liberal programs.

Second, the introduction of the notion of "market-competitiveness" into the education sector is progressing in the key field of school education. The enforcement of the "Teacher Incentive System" and the foundation of "Independent Private Schools" are good examples of this development. The "Teacher Incentive System" has been criticized as a shortsighted program without a full-scale reform blueprint, ignoring the characteristics of teachers and failing to meet the public demand that their social and economic status should be enhanced while lowering the number of students per teacher. The "Independent Private School" scheme has also been harshly attacked by teacher organizations and NGOs, which made the appointment of model schools prior to its actual implementation an abortive trial.

Third, KTU says that the education reform package of the government is widening the socio-economic gap between different economic classes and deepening geographical inequalities. This is utterly against the ideals and purposes of public education--the distribution of equal opportunities to all people, irrespective of their economic power, gender, color, religion, or geographical locations.

Education Under Attack: Solution--Not Competition, but Collaboration

It seems quite impossible to solve all the educational problems and irregularities in Korea at one blow. The fact is that education in South Korea is in critical condition in that almost all of its sectors need "prescription" or some kind of reform program. But taking the following measures would help get education back on the right track.

First, the ROK government and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources should reconsider its foundation of a series of education policies. Neo-liberal programs focusing on individual competitiveness in the market through the students' experience of the "survival of the fittest" game should be discarded, as well as beliefs in the "invisible hand" in the field of education. "Competition" and "Getting by in the Jungle of Hierarchy," the current keywords in public education, should be replaced by "Collaboration" and "Equality," the original ideals of education.

Second, President Kim's pledge that he would raise the education budget up to 6 percent of the GDP should be immediately implemented. This should go towards the improvement of poor school conditions and towards the effort to secure excellency of teachers through hiring as many teachers as is specified in the education law of Korea and establishing effective teacher training and retraining programs on a non-competitive basis.

Last, the authorities concerned should put emphasis on the democratization of private schools. Some private schools should be revived as a social and public apparatus. This process should be backed up by transparent school budget administration, and by a democratic decision-making system involving school authorities, teachers, parents, and students. The first step to get this task done is the reform of the current private school law, which entitles the board of directors to almost absolute power, keeping the teachers, parents, and public directors from participating in school management.