Lee Jinsuk: "I will do my best for the success of the Lee Jaemyung government's education policy"

[Financial News] Lee Jinsuk, candidate for Minister of Education, stated before the start of the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly Education Committee on the 16th, "I have worked as an educator for the past 36 years at universities, served as president of a regional base national university, and as chairman of the 'National and Public University Presidents' Council', constantly contemplating our education," and "I will do my best to successfully promote the education policy of the Lee Jaemyung government based on my past experiences and reflections." The candidate also emphasized that they will pursue four major policy goals to create a K-education powerhouse where everyone can share the joy of growth and anyone can blossom their skills. The four policies include strengthening the national responsibility for public education, creating schools where both teachers and students are happy, nurturing future talents through AI education innovation, and realizing regional innovation and national balanced development through the power of education.
The candidate stated, "During my tenure as president of a national university, I valued communication with campus members and local residents, and the most meaningful achievements were obtained through leadership of communication and respect," and added, "Based on these experiences, I will continuously communicate with the education field during the policy promotion process and strive to reflect the wisdom and voices of the education field in the policy."
Candidate Lee Jinsuk announced that they will prioritize and promote the following four policy goals for a new leap in Korean education.
First, the candidate pointed out that public education has not fulfilled its role and emphasized resolving parents' burdens of educational expenses and care concerns. He said, "To alleviate the burden on parents, we will realize education and care that the state is responsible for, and build a solid basic academic management system so that no one is excluded from learning." The plan is to create an educational environment that fosters children's creativity and collaboration skills, moving away from competition-centered education.
Next, the candidate stressed the importance of protecting teachers' rights and conveyed deep sympathy for teachers' difficulties. He emphasized, "I will do my best to protect teachers' rights so that teachers can focus solely on education without any worries," and "It is also important to carefully take care of the broken mental health of children." To this end, "We will establish a multi-layered support system for students in emotional and behavioral crises to prioritize the mental health of all students from prevention to recovery," he added. He also promised to create a safe school where parents can send their children with peace of mind by incorporating their voices.
Thirdly, the candidate emphasized the change in the educational paradigm to nurture future talents needed in the AI convergence era. He mentioned, "To enable our country to leap to 'AI Top 3', we will strengthen digital literacy and basic AI capabilities from elementary to high school stages to solidify the foundation for AI talents to grow," and "In universities, we will create an educational ecosystem that can systematically nurture AI professionals and AI+X convergence talents, and expand humanities education and civic education that cultivate essential thinking power, questioning ability, and imagination in the AI era."
Lastly, the candidate emphasized that dispersing educational resources concentrated in the metropolitan area to improve regional educational conditions is important for the sustainable growth of the entire nation. He presented a specific plan, "Through 'Creating 10 Seoul National Universities', we will promote strategic investment and systematic nurturing of regional base universities, and resolve the educational imbalance centered on the metropolitan area." Furthermore, he expressed his ambition to achieve balanced development through co-prosperity with regional universities by stating, "In this process, we will establish a resource-sharing system where national and private universities grow together so that no regional universities are marginalized."

monarch@fnnews.com Kim Manki, Reporter