On-the-Job Teacher Evaluations to Start In September

The Uri Party and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development held a consultation meeting on Thursday at a hotel in Yeouido and agreed to implement on-the-job teacher evaluations, which the teachers’ union is opposed to, on a trial basis as scheduled starting in September.

Participants in the meeting included deputy prime minister and education minister Kim Jin-pyo, Chairman Ji Byung-moon of the Sixth Policy Coordination Committee, and representatives of the Education Committee.

The chairman said, “Since people support the evaluation system, schools will be selected for pilot implementation in June, and a uniform proposal will be made with consideration to the opinions of concerned parties by September before the implementation of system.”

He added that “the purpose of the system should not be compromised, and the system should be implemented carefully so as not to invite criticism from the teachers’ union and parents.”

The Korea Federation of Teachers Association and the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers Union visited the Blue House to submit a petition consisting of 250,000 teachers opposed to the evaluation system and called for the cancellation of the system.

In the meantime, proponents of the system, including the Parents Association for Education, the Group of Citizens for Education, and the Good Teachers Association expressed their opposition, saying that the original purpose of the system is compromised since it was changed to one that only evaluates the degree of class satisfaction.

In-Chul Lee In-Jik Cho inchul@donga.com cij1999@donga.com