Gifted Education or College Prep Tutoring?

Education in Osan is hitting a major wall and facing a crisis of stagnation.

Since September, the city has launched an "Osan TOP (Training of Osan's Pioneers) Project Operational Support Plan" targeting top 4% academic performers at four local high schools, but the program has drawn complaints from parents and others.

The program receives 40 million won in funding. Additionally, the program runs for a total of 12 weeks through the second half of this year.

According to the city on the 7th, to discover talented youth in the region and provide high-quality education, the city has gathered 40 students—20 from the humanities track and 20 from the science track—selected from schools in the area and provides four hours of after-school instruction every Friday and Saturday.

However, the lecture content focuses only on English and mathematics, drawing criticism that it is less about discovering talented youth as originally stated by the city and more a specialized prep course targeting college admissions.

Instructors are mainly composed of local teachers who receive 100,000 won per hour in instructor fees.

Parent Han Mo (44, Joong-ang-dong) pointed out, "Such projects are nothing but a petty initiative that aims at college admissions rather than discovering local talent, creating discord among students and violating the basic right to equal education."

A high school teacher in the region, who requested anonymity, stated, "The mayor said he is an educator, but the fact that he put forward such a pitiful education policy is itself the problem, isn't it?" and added, "Since the program's operating budget comes from taxpayers' money, it should be restructured as a program for all students in Osan, not just for specific individuals."