Korean archbishop calls for equality, consensus in education

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taek of Seoul has urged South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol to create a national consensus in formulating and implementing the country’s educational policy to ensure equality.

Sep 23, 2022


SEOUL:
Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taek of Seoul has urged South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol to create a national consensus in formulating and implementing the country’s educational policy to ensure equality.

The archbishop made the remarks when the president visited the archdiocesan office on September 9. During the visit on the first day of Chuseok holiday, when Koreans visit ancestral graves to pay homage, President Yoon joined volunteers of the church-run Myeongdong Bajib soup kitchen to cook and serve meals to poor and homeless people.

Archbishop Chung said that it is essential to have an education policy based on consensus and insisted that the recently formed National Education Commission needs to ensure equal representation of various stakeholders.

“Education is the country’s century- old tradition, so it is important to determine which direction our educational philosophy should be oriented through national consensus regardless of the political inclinations,” the prelate said.

He also stressed the need to create an “educational ideology” that includes experts, and parents from all social classes to create “a national consensus that can be concretely formulated by the National Education Commission.”

Korea launched its National Education Commission on July 21 tasked with creating and implementing the National Educational Development Plan for the next 10 years.

The commission is expected to review the standards and contents of the national curriculum, collect, and coordinate public opinion on education policy, and oversee other matters stipulated by other laws of the country.

Archbishop Chung and President Yoon also discussed the social welfare activities of the Church and the government in the country.

“We focused our efforts on social welfare in the 1960s and 1980s, but now the government is also involved in it in a systematic way. So we are also turning over and looking for those in real need,” said the prelate.

President Yoon promised to ensure “that the government and the president are always by the side of those in need.” The Catholic Church in South Korea is considered a vital player in the country’s educational field as it runs hundreds of education institutes including some top-ranking universities. -- ucanews.com

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