Cha Jeong-in, chairperson of the National Education Commission, delivers a briefing at the Cheong Wa Dae banquet hall on Wednesday during a ministerial work report presided over by President Lee Jae-myung. [Yonhap]
Cha Jeong-in, chairperson of the National Education Commission, delivers a briefing at the Cheong Wa Dae banquet hall on Wednesday during a ministerial work report presided over by President Lee Jae-myung. [Yonhap]

The National Education Commission plans to release a draft of its "2028–2037 National Education Development Plan" in October, gather public input and finalize the blueprint in March next year. The 10-year roadmap for national education is set to cover AI-driven education innovation, medium- to long-term reform of the college admissions system and the restoration of school communities.

The commission presented its key agenda Wednesday in a joint work report with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Cultural Heritage Administration, and announced its second-half action plan.

The commission said it will release the draft plan in late October, conduct public consultations and confirm the final version by the end of March 2027.

The plan is built around the vision of "A New Education Nation — Korea's Choice in an Era of Great Transformation," with three core pillars: state responsibility for learning, comprehensive education innovation and restoration of school communities.

To strengthen state responsibility for learning, the plan calls for guaranteeing healthy development for young children and foundational competencies for students, nurturing regional talent through university autonomy and expanded public investment, and supporting lifelong learning and career transitions.

Reform of the college admissions system over the medium to long term will be discussed in tandem with the development plan, alongside efforts to use AI technology to innovate curricula, teaching methods and assessment. The commission also said it will move to strengthen education that cultivates distinctly human capabilities and to deepen AI education within the national curriculum.

To restore school communities, the plan calls for protecting teachers' educational activities and strengthening civic education in schools. The commission also said it will pursue a revision of the history curriculum to expand the share of modern and contemporary history in middle school history courses and to add new elective subjects to the social studies cluster in high school. Policy initiatives to improve basic literacy will also be developed.

The commission said it will gather public input during the plan's development through a public participation committee, regional field forums with provincial and metropolitan education offices, and a public opinion platform, with major policy decisions to be made through open public deliberation. It also plans to expand communication with younger generations and local communities, including by establishing a student and youth participation body within the public participation committee.

In the first half of this year, the commission held discussions through 11 special committees to lay the groundwork for the development plan. It also drafted guiding principles on the direction of future education in the AI era and on civic education in schools, and gathered public feedback on both. In addition, it revised the curriculum to reflect credit completion standards under the high school credit system and to introduce a new "Healthy Living" subject for first- and second-grade elementary school students. The commission also expanded its national curriculum monitoring team, strengthened operational transparency and reorganized the public participation committee.

"We will broaden the concept of talent to encompass every field that creates social value, and provide support so that potential can be fully realized," said Cha Jeong-in, chairperson of the National Education Commission.


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