Angered Teachers and School Principals Call for Yoon`s Resignation

Only one day after the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MOEHRD) announced that it would allow individual schools to decide whether to use the controversial students and teachers database system known as NEIS, principals at some schools, where members of the progressive Korea Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) outnumber non-member teachers, have begun to feel pressured.

And schools and education organizations are increasingly throwing weight to the argument that the only way to narrow the growing chasm in the education community and mend the problems is to let Minister Yoon Deok-hong go.

▽Catch 22

As the education ministry failed to come up with more specific guidelines, school principals complain, ˝Are we supposed to bear all the responsibilities?˝

˝I have been telling teachers that I would follow a decision made by the ministry and now I am at a loss,˝ said a middle school principal in Seoul, adding he had to delay implementation of NEIS facing categorical opposition from KTU member teachers.

˝We have delayed adoption of NEIS fearing that KTU members could take a collective action, and we now has no choice but to go back the old Client System,˝ said a deputy principal at a primary school in Seoul.

They also raise concern that schools might go through another bout of confusion and chaos after six months when the government finally decides to implement NEIS, citing the lack of preparations.

˝Since only teachers in charge of class or each subject are allowed to enter scores with NEIS, the system will grind to halt if those teachers refuse to cooperate,˝ said an information system teacher at a middle school in Seoul. ˝Principals might delegate the authority to other teachers, which will in turn mess up the entire process.˝

Calls for Resignation

Despite the decision that opened the way for adoption of NEIS, Minister Yoon continues to take the heat from growing condemnation by not only KTU but also the Korea Federation of Teachers Association (KFTA) and the Korea National and Private School Principals Association.

KFTA issued a statement on May 2 and said, ˝The only way to mend the ongoing problems of confusion and conflicts is to let go Minister Yoon who has completely lost confidence of people.˝ It added that it will hold a large outdoor rally on May 7 to call for resignation of the minister and launch a signature-collecting campaign.

˝We see no need to bother calling for resignation of the minister who has already lost control over his wok,˝ pointed out a KTU official.

˝Minister Yoon must be held accountable for repeated reversals of NEIS policy, which ended up fueling confusion throughout the society,˝ said the People`s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in a statement.

▽Repair Work

The education ministry and local education authorities have begun to craft measures to deal with the ongoing crisis. Yet, chances of reaching a compromise remain small.

MOEHRD held a meeting with information system officers working for education agencies nationwide, but failed to craft specific measures and only agreed to promote adoption of NEIS at schools.

˝It will be hard for any education minister to deal with a crisis like this, but someone must be held accountable,˝ said a primary school principal in Seoul. ˝The government must push ahead with implementation of NEIS after addressing the privacy concern raised by the National Human Rights Commission.˝

˝We will redouble our effort to develop viable alternatives so as to ease the confusion surrounding NEIS,˝ said the National Information System Teachers Association. It has decided to form NEIS operating and public relations teams on a national level, and NEIS taskforces and problem-solving teams on a regional base so as to help schools implement the new database system.

Seong-Chul Hong sungchul@donga.com