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South Korean parents and early childhood education workers have joined forces to protest the government’s plan to lower the elementary school enrollment age from 6 to 5. Through signature campaigns and rallies, many organizations representing these groups are calling for the controversial policy to be withdrawn.

Those opposing the policy argue that it does not take into consideration the developmental status of toddlers or gaps and issues concerning childcare. Instead, these groups say the policy is only focused on producing manpower and growing the workforce and are criticizing the Yoon administration for pushing such a policy without any prior public consultation or proper communication with relevant parties.

The sudden policy change was decided on Friday, July 29, when Minister of Education Park Soon-ae met with President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office in Yongsan. It was also announced that, by lowering the admissions age and speeding up graduations of middle school, high school and university students by one year, young people will be able to enter society at an earlier stage. This seems to be the logic behind the policy.

“In countries with very low birth rates like ours, it is necessary to secure a productive population quickly,” a presidential office official told the Hankyoreh on Sunday. “The goal is for the Ministry of Education to actively promote plans that have long been discussed in education circles,” the official added.

For now, the Ministry of Education is considering gradually admitting 5-year-olds born between 2019 and 2022 in increments of 25% in the early stages of the system.

Under this plan, those born between January 2018 to March 2019 are set to start school in 2025, those born from April 2019 to June 2020 in 2026, those born from July 2020 to September 2021 in 2027, and those born between October 2021 to December 2022 in 2028.

According to data by Statistics Korea, the target enrollment figure for 2025 is 409,852 students, including 328,822 born in 2018 and 83,030 born between January and March 2019.

As such, when it comes to students who are poised to enroll in school in 2025, the competition pool they’ll be up against throughout the first half of their lives for school entrance exams and employment will increase by 83,000 people.

Upon learning of the government’s new plan, parents, kindergartens, daycare centers, and teachers groups all came together to voice their opposition to the policy.

One important factor cited by those opposed to the plan is that there is no research on or consideration of the developmental process of 5-year-olds that shows they can indeed adapt to an elementary school environment.

Moreover, critics claim competition between students and the use of private education will increase and problems concerning childcare at daycare centers and kindergartens will likely intensify.

Critics also point out that the policy had never been previously brought up or mentioned in a presidential pledge or during the time of the presidential transition committee.

A coalition of 31 civic and teacher organizations, including the Korean Federation of Teachers Unions (KFTU) and the National Association of Private Kindergartens, held a rally in front of the presidential office in Yongsan at 2 pm on Monday to protest the new policy.

On Sunday, petitions collecting signatures against the policy were also shared on various online forums frequented by parents.

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) and the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) also issued their own statements in opposition to the government’s proposed educational reforms.

The progressive KTU sharply criticized the government’s announcement, pointing out how elementary school students have to sit at their desks and concentrate for 40 minutes at a time and that expecting toddlers to do the same thing would be akin to “violence and child abuse."

The more conservative KFTA was also not on board with the government’s plans. “The developmental characteristics of toddlers were not taken into account,” the KFTA said on Friday, adding that “besides the need for massive financial investment, [students in these age groups] may face disadvantages regarding entrance exams and employment.”

The fact that this plan to reform the school system — something the previous administration failed to introduce due to social outcries — was announced by the Yoon administration without any prior public consultation or even any hinting of such a plan beforehand is also a source of controversy.

Park, the education minister who doubles as deputy prime minister, herself said that “we have not yet officially discussed [the new policy] with the [municipal and provincial] offices of education."

Confirming this, a labor union representing teachers at public kindergartens nationwide issued a statement on Friday arguing that lowering the elementary school entrance age to 5 was not previously included on Yoon’s list of policy initiatives and that the policy was confirmed and “announced suddenly” with no prior consultation and without involving those working in early childhood education.

“It is a very important discussion concerning the reorganization of the school system, but the relevant fields were completely ignored,” the statement read.

Similarly, the National Association of Private Kindergartens also criticized the government’s move on Saturday, saying, “The foundation of an important national education policy was reported arbitrarily by Minister Park Soon-ae without any consultation [with relevant stakeholders].”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said it would, together with the National Education Commission, launch a process for public discussion on the policy in the future.

An official from the Ministry of Education told the Hankyoreh that the plan to lower the starting age for elementary school “is not a policy yet, but a policy agenda item,” adding that “we plan to go through the process of collecting public opinions and holding social debates [on the issue] at a later date.”

A high-ranking official from the presidential office said that the proposed reforms are “the agenda and direction of the Minister of Education and that [the plan] will be materialized after taking in various opinions."

By Kim Min-je, staff reporter; Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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