Gyeonggi Superintendent Transition Committee Requests Audit of AI Education Platform 'Hi-Learning'

The transition committee for the 6th elected Gyeonggi Provincial Superintendent of Education requested an audit from Superintendent Ahn Min-suk on July 8, raising allegations of preferential treatment and illegality regarding the 'Hi-Learning' project, an AI-based teaching and learning platform that was a key policy of former Superintendent Lim Tae-hee.

The transition committee explained the background of the audit request, stating, "Starting with an initial development cost of 4.6 billion won in 2023, a total of 35.8 billion won has been invested in Hi-Learning. However, there have been constant criticisms regarding serious side effects and budget waste, including low utilization in schools, technical instability, forced enrollment to inflate performance figures, and controversy over a promotional video that disparaged teachers."

The committee further claimed, "Allegations have been raised that private presentations were held between key education office officials, including the former superintendent, and high-ranking executives of KT, the company that won the project, before the project was officially put out to bid."

The transition committee's position is that there is suspicion of illegality and preferential treatment, such as the provincial office of education proceeding with the bidding process with KT in mind after prior contact.

The committee also argued that the project was pushed forward unreasonably by bypassing the mandatory prior consultation and Information Strategy Planning (ISP) procedures required for large-scale information technology projects.

The transition committee identified three Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education officials who were in office at the time of the project's promotion, as well as one external expert suspected of being involved, as subjects for the audit.

Hi-Learning is an education platform that supports the teaching and learning process for teachers and students based on AI, and it was one of the key projects of former Superintendent Lim.

After being introduced on a trial basis in 162 elementary, middle, and high schools in the province in September 2023, it has now been expanded and is being used in most schools.

The transition committee also requested an audit of the entire contracting process, stating that it confirmed that a specific large corporation had monopolized 74.8% of the total contract value for goods and services for the provincial education office's information technology projects over the past four years.

(Photo: Provided by Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.