"Are Our Children Lab Rats?" Parents Outraged Over New Gwangju Education Policy

The transition committee for the Gwangju-Jeonnam Integrated Special City Superintendent of Education, led by Kim Dae-jung, is facing controversy after announcing plans to switch all subjects for 5th and 6th-grade elementary students and 1st-grade middle school students to 100% descriptive and essay-based assessments starting next year.

Parents have expressed strong opposition, arguing that local students are being used as test subjects for the policy, while teachers have also voiced negative views regarding the implementation, citing a lack of preparation.

According to the K-Education Special City Preparatory Committee on July 17, Preparatory Committee Chair Kim Kyung-beom stated during a briefing yesterday that "a 100% descriptive and essay-based assessment does not mean changing all exams to long-form writing, but rather eliminating multiple-choice questions."

"We are well aware of the concerns from parents and students regarding potential grade drops and increased burdens from private education costs due to the introduction of this new assessment method," Kim said. "The Office of Education must prepare measures to establish student-centered, process-oriented learning and assessment to replace rote memorization."

He further explained that the current process-oriented assessments, such as discussions, presentations, and reports, will be maintained, and that an Institute for Curriculum Development and Evaluation should be established to oversee question development, grading criteria, and teacher training.

However, parents immediately pushed back, arguing that students should not be treated as subjects for educational experiments.

Parents raised concerns over the lack of a nationwide assessment reform, potential side effects, and the increased burden of private education resulting from the sudden implementation.

A parent in their 40s with a 6th-grade child expressed worry, saying, "It is essentially raising the bar for exams without proper preparation, which will lead to a surge in students in the lower and middle tiers giving up on their studies."

A parent in their 50s with a 5th-grade child argued, "With the college entrance system reform not yet finalized, it is inevitable to feel anxious if students are studying in a different way than those in other regions," adding that "establishing evaluation criteria must come first."

C, a graduate of an international school who experienced 100% descriptive and essay-based assessments, noted, "There were many times when I felt the evaluation criteria were unclear and explanations were insufficient when raising objections," adding that "assessments in the compulsory education curriculum must also have standards established by experts."

Among teachers, there was criticism regarding the incompleteness of AI assessment tools and a lack of consultation with those in the field.

Baek Seong-dong, Policy Director of the Gwangju Branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), stated, "All teachers want to focus on teaching and assessment, but administrative work and handling malicious complaints must be addressed first," adding that "stabilizing schools must be the priority."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.