An Min-seok's 'Phone-Free, RAS, and Breaking Barriers' Awakens Europe

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education announced that Superintendent of Education An Min-seok visited the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Directorate for Education and Skills in Paris, France on September 25 (local time) to explain key policies of Gyeonggi education and discuss global educational cooperation initiatives.

The OECD Directorate for Education and Skills oversees the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the "Future of Education and Skills 2030/2040" project, and as an international organization exerts substantial influence on the educational curriculum design of member countries.

Sharing OECD "Education 2040" Direction Shift and Global Literacy Decline Diagnosis

The OECD opened discussions by explaining the direction and key changes of "Education 2040," which follows the existing "Learning Compass 2030." It then diagnosed the global literacy decline phenomenon revealed in recent PISA results and shared plans to address this issue substantively in the 2027-2028 curriculum research and at the Global Forum scheduled for December.

Both sides reviewed the position of Gyeonggi Province Office of Education's "RAS Gyeonggi Arts, Physical Education, and Cultural Education" within the OECD Learning Compass framework and examined similar cases of international integrated education. They also jointly reviewed major countries' cases of reflecting student agency and transformative competencies in national curricula.

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education plans to actively participate in the OECD Global Forum to be held in December, where literacy and curriculum will be addressed as core agenda items, thereby expanding Gyeonggi education policies to the global stage.

"What Can Smartphones Not Provide to Generation Alpha Children?"

Superintendent An introduced Gyeonggi education's three core policies under the theme of "Gyeonggi Education Transformation for Generation Alpha," posing the question: "Among the things that Generation Alpha children truly need, what is it that smartphones cannot provide?"

▲Phone-Free School is a policy that restores the essence of education, encourages participation from families and local communities, and elevates child and social media issues to the level of public discourse. ▲RAS Gyeonggi Arts, Physical Education, and Cultural Education centers on holistic and character education through Reading, Arts, and Sports, supported multifacetedly by the AI Connection Platform. ▲Breaking Barriers is a policy that removes administrative and institutional barriers between schools and local communities, bringing local human and material resources into schools, opening school facilities to communities, and doubling joint educational expenses with local governments as its core measures.

Superintendent An emphasized that these policies are all being promoted on the solid foundation of "teacher authority restoration" and stated, "I will create schools where students look forward to attending, teachers are respected, and parents feel assured."

UNESCO Meeting and Visits to French Arts, Physical Education, and Cultural Education Sites

Prior to the OECD meeting, the delegation visited Condorcet Middle School in Dourdan to observe international exchange classes on the theme of "Korean Culture" conducted between students from Shinheung Middle School in Gyeonggi Province and local students. They also visited Janson de Sailly High School in Paris to examine how French schools operate arts and sports education programs.

That same evening, the delegation met with Sobhi Tawil, Director of UNESCO's Future Learning Innovation (FLI) division and the Education Futures team to discuss future education discourse and mutual cooperation measures. On September 26, they held discussions with the "Sarangbang Association," a Korean language teacher group in France, and the Seoul Education Center in Paris to explore ways to expand Korean language education.

This European visit was conducted over five nights and eight days from September 20-27, with a total of 17 participants including Superintendent An Min-seok and 11 district education office superintendents. The delegation confirmed advanced cases from Estonia (digital transformation and AI-based education infrastructure), Germany (democratic citizenship education), and France (arts and sports education), and the Provincial Office of Education plans to actively reflect these in its mid- to long-term "Gyeonggi Education Transformation" plans.

Superintendent An Min-seok stated, "The compass presented by the OECD shows direction, but the actual place where that path is walked is the classroom," and emphasized, "Since reading, arts, and sports are values that smartphones can never replace, I will ensure that the path Gyeonggi Province walks first becomes a common agenda in global education."