Private School Foundations against “Mandatory Outsider Trustees System”

The Uri Party announced a confirmed version of its private school law revision yesterday. The revision introduces open selection of board members and reduces the chairman’s authority while increasing the authority of school committees and teachers committees. School boards will keep its right to appoint teachers, but candidates recommended by teachers should be included in the personnel committee without exception.

However, private institutes unanimously showed strong opposition to it, saying, “It is a policy to destroy basis of private institutes. As a result, it is expected that the bill will face difficulty in passing the National Assembly.”

According to the revision, the number of trustees on a private school board will increase to nine from the current seven. Some of the board members should consist of trustees selected openly among candidates recommended by the school committee. The ruling party, though, failed to draw consent on the ratio of the outsider trustees. The Uri Party suggested one-third or higher while the Ministry of Education and Human Resources wanted one-fourth or higher.

In addition, relatives of a board chairman cannot become principal, and the number should not be more than one-fourth of the total board members. A trustee who left the board due to irrationality can return only after five years and when two-thirds of the board members agree.

The Uri Party plans to submit the revision to the National Assembly on October 20 after selecting it as its party’s official opinion on October 17.

Meanwhile, private institutes, including the Private School Foundations Association, University Foundations Associations, and Private Junior High and High School Principals Association, declared that “the revision will tie the hands and feet of private schools, making it hard for them to realize their ideas, and eventually schools will be transmuted into a political battle field. We will do all our measures to stop the bill from passing the National Assembly.”

Jong-Koo Yoon Hyo-Lim Son jkmas@donga.com aryssong@donga.com