Korea must break from centralized school system: World Bank

``Korea is required to remove various restrictions on education, breaking from the centralized system, while granting greater autonomy, improving the quality of education and expanding connections between colleges and industry.``

The World Bank identified perceived problems in the Korean education system in its recent report on Korea`s human resources development in the process of shifting to a knowledge-based economy in the 21st century.

The report noted that the central government regulated tuitions, enrollment, curricula, textbooks and the appointment of teachers, adding that there was no distinction between public and private schools in terms of educational services. The government control of the education system resulted in the ``stiffening of education,`` it said.

It noted that students are dissatisfied with school education and their parents are also unhappy with Korean schools. ``Corporations complain about the technical abilities of new employees and the government is not certain about how to sharpen the competitive edge of the nation`s educational system,`` the report said.

As for college education, the World Bank analyzed that because courses are more or less the same, students share the same knowledge and technology so they fail to meet the diverse demands of the market. It said Korea should develop a mechanism to bring the education system in line with market demands and provide students with better communication skills, thinking power and technologies in the information and communications field. The proposed remedy is similar to recommendations on Korean education given by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In a recent report, the OECD said Korea needs to work out a system to monitor whether national policy goals are being properly implemented, rather than controlling and managing the entire educational system. It also recommended that municipal and provincial governments need to allow local schools to assess the quality of educational training.

OECD also pointed out that educational policy goals have to be implemented so that teachers give responsibility to educational beneficiaries, such as students and their parents. ``It has to be properly managed and organized so that educators can actively participate in the development of education,`` it said.

Analyses of the World Bank and OECD reports suggest that changes in the Korean education system are progressing slowly, despite various educational reform measures.

Ha Joon-Woo hawoo@donga.com