Ajou University President Park Hyung-ju attended the “Presentation on General Outline of the 2022 Revised Curriculum.”

Hosted by the Ministry of Education on November 24, 2021, this event was attended not only by Ajou University President Park but also by Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae and other dignitaries.

President Park delivered a presentation entitled, “Progress on Revision of the Curriculum and Major Challenges.” Appointed as Chairman of the Committee on Revision of the National Curriculum by the Ministry of Education in April, President Park has since held 13 meetings on the direction of and challenges in a revision of the curriculum.

During the presentation, he talked about the opinions that had been gathered through various channels to come up with an amendment and comprehensive discussions on and review of related research results, and how intense discussion occurred within the Committee on the questions, “Is it a sustainable alternative that can support the lives and growth of our children in the future?” and “Is it is an unbiased alternative that is balanced and reasonable?”

During the Q&A session with reporters, a question was asked regarding how deficiencies could be prevented in basic academic skills as a result of a reduction in the amount of learning. President Park began answering by explaining that designing a curriculum is similar to designing a four-story building with common courses, general elective courses, career-related elective courses, and convergence elective courses for each floor, from bottom to top. Therefore, if there is too much time spent in the common and general elective courses, students will burn out before taking courses in the higher floors—the career-related and convergence elective courses. “It is important to keep students from becoming fatigued through the use of a suitable amount of study on the 1st and 2nd floors. […] The high school credit system should go together with class diversity as well as a diversity of levels.” He added, “It is important to find ways to encourage students to move on to the third and fourth floors. […] The university entrance exam system should be designed so students intensively studying, through elective courses in their area of interest, will be advantaged rather than disadvantaged.”

The 2022 revised curriculum will be finalized and announced around November 2022 and will reflect major issues announced during this “Presentation on General Outline of the 2022 Revised Curriculum.” The revised curriculum will be applied to elementary first and second graders in 2024 and first graders of middle and high schools in 2025.