[Editorial] `Educational Reform Driven by Lee Hae-Chan` Only Creates Confusion

As the average score of the college entrance exam is expected to fall to a large degree, the senior high school students fell into confusion. The students were shocked by the result of self-grading, and the teachers were bedazzled by the muddled college entrance standard.

It is basically because something unexpected took place that such a severe confusion has been created. Although the examination preparing committee anticipated the drop of 16-37 points from the last year`s average, it is actually expected to fall even by 30-70 points. Both students and teachers did not expect such a headlong fall.

While last year`s issue was too easy an examination, this year`s examination was too difficult to solve, only creating the ailing confusion. The unpredictable fluctuation of college entrance exam score prevents the examinees from setting the proper standard for preparing the exam. The predictability is a necessary condition for the regular national examination. This is only a problem existing in the current educational policies. There have been many cases of lacking the consistency and predictability in our educational policies. Since the current government was launched, various educational reforms driven by Minister of Education and Human Resources Lee Hae-Chan have only created many conflicts and confusions in the actual fields.

The ministry implemented the curtailment of teacher`s retirement age, justifying that the early retirement of one senior teacher enables the employment of two junior teachers. But the schools have suffered from the lack of teachers now, revealing the unpredictability and inconsistent teacher recruitment policy.

The original plan of the BK 21 was to intensively support a certain promising college for nurturing the high-quality human resources. But it actually fell into the `booty sharing`. As well, many educational policies such as the 7th education program, work-based payment system, independently run private high school system are facing the strong opposition of teachers. It would be because the ministry failed to properly reflect the opinions of teachers, another subject of educational reform.

In particular, this year`s senior high school students have heard since they entered high school that the 2002 entrance exam actually would be a non-exam screening or the colleges would select the candidates based on their particular ability. Hence, they have not received the supplementary lessons and have taken a limited number of trial examinations. As the students have not taken the college entrance exam seriously only to drop the academic level of high school students. Under such a circumstance, this year`s exam was much tougher than previous years` exams. It would be a natural consequence that the exam score fell down to a large degree.

Above all areas of administration, the education should be predictable and stable. Students should no longer be the objects of experiment of educational policy.