Overcrowded Middle School Classes in Dongtan, Hwaseong... "Due to Different Teacher Staffing Standards Between Ministry of Education and Provincial Office of Education"

Kim Young-hoon, a member of the Gyeonggi Province Assembly's Education Administration Committee (Democratic Party, Hwaseong District 3), held a working meeting with the Teacher Personnel Policy Division at the Gyeonggi Province Assembly on the 19th to discuss measures to resolve overcrowded classes in the Dongtan middle school district. Rep. Kim identified limitations in the teacher position allocation structure and emphasized the necessity of securing the total number of positions.

This meeting was held as a follow-up after it was confirmed in a middle school district placement report on the 13th that adjusting the number of classes to alleviate overcrowding is directly linked to teacher placement and position issues. The meeting aimed to specifically examine teacher position issues and allocation structures.

The Ministry of Education allocates teacher positions to city and provincial offices of education based on "student numbers," while provincial offices of education allocate teachers to actual schools based on "number of classes." Due to this mismatch in calculation standards, in new cities like Dongtan where continuous student influx occurs, regular teacher positions cannot keep up with demand, causing overcrowded classes to be structurally repeated.

Since creating new classes is impossible without sufficient teacher positions, schools cannot freely increase the number of classes even when trying to resolve overcrowding. In fact, the number of students per class in Dongtan middle schools is confirmed to still exceed 30.

Rep. Kim stated that he will work to expand Gyeonggi Province's teacher positions through continuous consultations with the Ministry of Education to improve this structural problem. The plan is to secure the total number of positions based on the unique characteristics of student influx in Gyeonggi Province and the overcrowding situation in new cities.

Additionally, since the size of regular teacher positions finalized in June combined with non-regular contract teachers finalized in September determines the actual number of operating teachers in the following year, Rep. Kim emphasized that he will make an all-out effort to secure contract teachers for temporary positions allocated by region in September. This is viewed as practical leverage for resolving overcrowded classes in the 2027 academic year.

Rep. Kim Young-hoon stated, "Because the Ministry of Education uses student numbers as a standard while the provincial office of education uses the number of classes, overcrowded classes in new cities are structurally repeated. If necessary, we will closely consult with the Ministry of Education to secure the total number of teacher positions for Gyeonggi Province, and especially make efforts to secure the maximum number of non-regular contract teachers allocated in September to lay the groundwork for resolving overcrowded classes in the 2027 academic year."