Ruling Party to Revise Private School Education Bill

Regarding the appointment of open directors assigned to outside figures in a revised bill on Private School Law, for religious schools, the ruling Uri Party decided to change a bill in order to allow those schools to appoint only figures whose beliefs conform with the religious spirit of their school foundations to posts for open directors that take up more than a third of the board of directors.

On June 7, Jee Byung-moon, the chairman of the sixth policy coordination committee of the Uri Party, revealed his position, saying, “If outside figures who are irrelevant with the religious ideal envisioned in the founding of private schools founded by religious groups are named as directors, it might be possible to cause confusion in their operating guidelines,” adding, “Not only Uri Party lawmakers from the Education Committee of the National Assembly, but also the Uri Party leadership have agreed to revise the bill.”

The revised bill on the Private School Law drawn up by the Uri Party stipulates that “educational foundations must appoint figures who are recommended by the school operation committee or the university evaluation committee to director-level posts, and their total number should be more than a third of board of directors.” In addition, the Uri Party is planning to put a specific provision into the bill that says, “As for private schools founded by religion groups, only those who are in accord with the religious ideals envisioned at their founding will be able to be named to open director-level posts.”

The Uri Party expects that opposition from religion foundation leaders and many believers, who have taken the lead in gathering public opinion against the bill on the grounds that if it is revised, it will undermine the ideals envisioned by the founders of private schools, will be put down.

However, it is forecasted that if the bill is revised, a matter of the equity between private schools founded by religion groups and other private school foundations will be raised as well.

Ordinary private school foundations have insisted, “Despite the fact that all private school foundations have the spirit of their school foundations, such as diligence and public service, we have pursued and practiced this in our own manner, it is unfair to only guarantee the ideals envisioned by the founders of religious schools.”

Myoung-GunLee gun43@donga.com