Policy Tasks for the Reformation of Korean Education

한국 교육의 발전 동인은 국민 교육열의 바탕 위에 교원들의 헌신과 교육개혁에 힘입은 바 크다. 한국 교육이 더욱 발전하고 국가경쟁력을 높일 수 있도록 4차 산업혁명과 코로나 팬데믹에 대응하면서 내·외적 상황에 직면하고 있는 쟁점과 문제점들을 해결하고 개선해 나가야 한다. 이를 위해 새로운 교육 비전과 전략을 가지고 교육의 본질 구현과 국가. 사회 발전에 더욱 기여할 수 있도록 효과적인 지원 시스템을 구축하여 적극적이고 지속적으로 교육개혁을 추진할 필요가 있다. 앞으로 교육의 본질 추구 노력이 강조되고 4차 산업혁명 시대와 AI 발달 등에 부응하며 교육의 다원성과 자율성, 책무성을 높이고 교직 존중 풍토 조성 및 신뢰 제고를 비롯해서 교육 격차 해소, 교육의 수월성(秀越性)과 평등성(平等性) 등의 가치를 조화롭게 추구하는 원칙 설정이 필요하다. 개혁 과제들로서는 4차 산업혁명에 부응하는 새로운 미래형 교육시스템 구축, 인성교육 및 공동체의식과 통일교육 강화, 실질적 출산 장려 정책 개발 및 교육 강화, 교직 존경풍토 조성 및 교직전문성 강화, 학교교육 격차 및 불평등 해소, 학교,대학.직업 연계체제 구축, 대학의 국제 경쟁력 강화 및 특성화, 사학의 자율성과 특수성 확립, 유능한 교육지도자 및 교육자치단체의 장을 확보할 수 있도록 교육 거버넌스 혁신, 교육 백년대계를 설계할 교육개혁기구 설치 등이 필요하다.The Republic of Korea was upgraded from a developing to a developed country in August 2021. This means that Korea is now regarded as a developed country in terms of its economic competitiveness and public welfare. The development and prosperity of Korea are recognized as being due to its education system and the strong enthusiasm of parents, devotion of teachers, and government educational reform. This study aims to explore policy directions and tasks for the reformation of Korean education for national development and prosperity. In recent years, concerns have been raised due to the onset of the 4th industrial revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the low birth rate, views unrelated to educational materials, and an uncertain future, as well as the environment have raised concerns. These kinds of changes demand appropriate responses and solutions. The status quo of education has many pending issues and problems. First of all, the big gap in school achievement among students as well as the failure of character education and excessive interference of the government in education. Also of concern are the depressed teaching atmosphere in schools, the crisis of morals and ethics and basic order, damage to the essence of educational autonomy, the insufficient international competitiveness of higher education, and more. In order to solve these problems, it is urgent to pursue the essentials of education, which requires reestablishing some principles and values such as excellence, equality, autonomy, diversity, and professionalism. On the basis of the principles and values, a new educational reform agenda could be recommended as follows. First, a new, future-oriented educational system and infrastructure should be built. Also, character education, community consciousness, and unification education should be emphasized along with a feasible childbirth policy. It goes without saying that respect for teachers and professionalism in teaching should be enhanced. It is inevitable to enact special laws for resolving disparities and inequality in education and private schools. It is necessary to strengthen linkages between school, colleges, universities, and occupations. International competitiveness of and specialization in higher education should also be emphasized and enhanced. Additionally, it is urgent to reshuffle the educational governance system. To be specific, the chief executives of the central and provincial areas should be selected from among the best qualified education experts and leaders. All of the above-mentioned reforms could be discussed by a presidential committee for educational reform and concrete alternatives and solutions could be determined.