Gyeonggi Province Office of Education to Recruit New School Principals Through Open Recruitment Process Starting March Next Year

The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education (Superintendent An Min-seok) released the "implementation plan for the school principal and kindergarten director open recruitment process" to take effect on March 1 next year through its website on the 20th.

The Provincial Office of Education attributes significance to the belief that "good principals create good schools" and recognizes that positive changes in schools can be achieved through competent leaders who drive school transformation in practice.

It views the expansion of appointing qualified school principals and kindergarten directors with specialized expertise to lead school changes as crucial, expanding the target schools subject to recruitment and improving field-focused review methods while strengthening the competency verification system for candidates.

In this principal recruitment process, school principals subject to transfer are newly included in the target schools, and the operating system is improved with the selection method for "Internal Type B" being integrated.

The target schools for recruitment are also expanded. First, whereas the recruitment target was previously limited to schools with mandatory retirement or expired term principals, it now extends to schools requiring new appointments due to principal transfers. Additionally, for "Internal Type B," in which applicants without principal certification apply, the existing allocation method of 50% or less per school level for elementary and secondary schools is changed to integrated calculation within 50% of applicant schools regardless of school level.

To enhance fairness and transparency in the review process, the mobile review system has been completely abolished, and school management briefing sessions have been integrated into face-to-face reviews to streamline procedures. The existing criteria for anonymization and point deductions for violations of writing restrictions, which were applied only to written documents, have been expanded to face-to-face reviews.

A new "observer system" allowing students, teachers, and parents to participate in the review process is being introduced.

Min Yoon, director of the Teacher Personnel Policy Division at the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, said, "The clear educational philosophy and leadership of good principals serve as a powerful driving force for positive transformation of the entire school. Through the principal open recruitment process, in which the educational community directly selects qualified individuals suited to the school and local characteristics, we aim to strengthen school-level responsible management and improve democratic school autonomy."