[Editorial] Urgent Need of `7th Curriculum` Complement

The 7th Curriculum has been breeding discord between the government and the teachers. It is reported that teachers of many regions are carrying out an act of disobedience.

The government, who has neglected the situation, cannot avoid the responsibility. The teachers have repeatedly requested the amendment of this policy, criticizing that the new curriculum does not reflect the educational situation. However, the government has driven the teacher into the new policy, assuming the confusion of the early stage would be temporary.

Recent survey of the educational directors of the 1903 middle and high schools on the matter of the 7th Curriculum, which was conducted by the Donga Ilbo and the Korean Federation of Teachers` Association, revealed the negative responses of the teachers.

76.9 percent of the middle school teachers and 84.8 percent of the high school teachers replied `negative` to the introduction of the new curriculum. 58.3 percent of the middle school teachers and 74.8 percent of the high school teachers also answered that the enforcement should be withheld and 16.5 percent of the middle schools and 15.7 percent of the high schools requested for the cancellation of the new educational policy.

The 7th Curriculum, which began to apply for the first time last year to the 1st and 2nd graders and would be completely implemented up to 12 graders by the year of 2004, is the massive national policy project, to which over 8 trillion won of the national budget was assigned to promote the education by levels and the expansion of the optional classes. The policy is set in the right direction in that the new curriculum aims to change the current uniform educational system, which has focused on the educational provider, to the diverse educational system centered to the students, and the educational consumers.

However, by the lack of teachers and their training for the new educational system and the unprepared educational facilities and programs, the hasty enforcement is expected to undergo the same errors that the government had experience when it had introduced the policy to lower the retirement limit age of the teachers. The classes of many middle schools that introduced the education by levels do not perform well. The participation of the behind students to the supplementary classes are very low and most of them attend the private cram schools.

It has been concerning that the education by levels will eventually end up with the intensification of the educational inequality. And it is questionable that, with the current poor demand and supply system for the teachers, students with various requests could be satisfied with the new curriculum.

Educational reformation will fail without the participation of the teachers. Therefore, the conflict between the teachers and the government will finally victimize the students.

The educational authority must prepare actively for the complement measures that are suitable for the educational reality. The government has to share the ideas with the teachers, giving up the position of asking for the teachers` opinion only for formality`s sake. The teachers also have to remind that the extreme methods such as the street protests might work against them.