제 15 호 What Is the Reorganization of the School System?
Kicker : SOCIETY
What Is the Reorganization of
the School System?
By Yun-Seo Jung, Cub-Reporter
Is the Reform of the School System Correct for the Reform of Children's Education?
Have you ever heard about a reorganization of the school system? The reorganization of the school system literally means that the education system is reorganized. The plan is to push a reorganization of the school system that lowers the entrance age of elementary schools from six to five. This announcement has aims to reduce the difference in private education through the lowering of the school entrance age so that the socially disadvantaged can receive public education quickly. The following is what was announced by the Ministry of Education.
“The national responsibility system closes the gap from the start of education.”
“The state should provide high-quality education equal to all children in proper time so that they can start growing without gaps, and in particular, it is necessary to expand the targets that the state is responsible for children at the infant step (0-5 years old).”
If the reorganization of the school system is instituted, the school entrance age will be increased by 25% for four years so that the minimum age for elementary school will be five from 2025. However, this issue is not yet confirmed. It is necessary to revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that ‘children should be enrolled at elementary school on March first of the following year, the day on which they become the age of six.’
Then, How Did the Public React to the Reorganization of the School System?
There have also been various reactions to the reorganization of the school system. Let's find out about the opinions in favor of the reorganization. First, the state is responsible for children's education faster and more effectively. Studies have shown that when invested in education in infants and elementary school, the effect is 16 times higher than adulthood. This means that the younger the age, the higher the efficiency of education. It also indicates that the state's willingness to take responsibility for allowing children to study in public education at a younger age. In this regard, it can be seen that the socially disadvantaged who are unable to receive a proper education need more the reorganization of the school system. Second, this can maximize labor productivity. Currently, Korea is experiencing a low birth rate and aging society, and this phenomenon is expected to continue in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to lower the age in which young people enter the labor market in order to mitigate the low birth rate and aging phenomenon. If the lower age of admission increases, the possibility of getting a job and marriage could rise and ease the low birth rate and aging population. Those who support the reorganization of the school system argue that it gives the socially disadvantaged equal opportunities for education and increases labor productivity.
Next, let's look at some of the opinions of those who oppose the reorganization of the school system. First, if a five year old child enters elementary school and maintains the elementary curriculum tailored to the current age of 6, it is difficult to provide normal education considering the stage of child development. Therefore, it is essential to develop a new curriculum necessary for the age of five and to develop the entire curriculum accordingly, but it is not easy for the process to take place quickly. Second, as soon as education begins, the start of private education is also accelerated. If the age of admission is lowered, the time for public education will be advanced, but parents will prepare for child education in advance for the start of compulsory education in time. In this case, the intention of the reorganization of the school system, which has advanced the start of public education by one year to reduce the difference in education, will be useless. Third, there will be disadvantages that a certain age will suffer. If a five-year-old and six-year-old child enter the school at the same time in the policy propulsion stage, the number of students can double at a certain time. Then, even if the age of entering the labor market is lowered, there is no change in the fact that it is difficult to get a job due to the rising employment competition rates. In addition, there is a risk of disadvantage due to the high competition rate for entrance exams.
If so, when is the school age in other countries, and how is the educational system being implemented? In Sweden, the school age is seven years old, and it is a representative country that operates the "maturity school system." From the age of one to five, they enter an infant school equivalent to a kindergarten in Korea, and at six years old, they enter an infant class in an elementary school and then enter a regular elementary school class at the age of seven. In 1980, Sweden, concluded that lowering the school age had a greater negative effect as the low birth rate problem became serious, like Korea, and instead focused on improving other systems, such as improving the women’s leave of absence system. While maintaining the maturity school system, Sweden’s birth rate had improved such that it had maintained the 1.9-member level since 2005.
Next, the school age in France is six years old, similar to Korea. France is considered an exemplary example of the operation of the school system. In France, people can enter kindergarten at the age of three and elementary school at the age of six. However, it is different from Korea to provide public education to infants aged three to five before entering elementary school. In France, the educational system is characterized by the fact that it operates by grouping two to three grades, not by grade. In connection with kindergartens and lower grades of elementary school, they taught ‘basic learning courses’ and ‘intensive courses’ at the higher grades of elementary school, and operate ‘adaptation courses,’ career courses’ at the middle school level. Also they tried to avoid mechanical classification of dividing the curriculum by grade.
Last, England is an early school system that goes to elementary school at the age of five. Instead of being able to enter elementary school from the age of five, the elementary curriculum was dualized. In the UK, children aged five to seven go to an infant school in the lower grades of elementary school, and those who are aged seven to 11 go to a junior school in the higher grades of elementary school. In the case of infant schools, thanks to the creation of a curriculum centered on play and activities, it is evaluated that the school system is maintained without any side effects even though the school age is lower than in other countries. In 1999, another factor of success was the strengthening of the linkage between infant education for the ages of three to five and infant schools for the ages of five to seven through educational reform.
In the case of other countries, even though they have a low birth rate and aging society like Korea, they prepared for the population problem by providing capabilities to improve other systems, not just educational reform. There will definitely be advantages of school reorganization affecting children's education, but there are still many concerns. It can be thought that it is not a wise way to simply get solutions to various social problems, such as low birth rates, aging population, and employment problems from children's education. And then, what questions should we ask society?
Sources:
https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201511082176447678
https://www.moe.go.kr/boardCnts/viewRenew.do?boardID=294&boardSeq=90303&lev=0