ID :
112387
Thu, 03/18/2010 - 14:16
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/112387
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(News Focus) Parliament embroiled in bitter row over free school lunch
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- A free lunch program for all young schoolchildren has
emerged as one of the hottest political issues ahead of the June 2 gubernatorial
and mayoral elections.
Opposition candidates are promising to exempt all elementary and middle school
students from lunch expenses, seeking to appeal to low-income voters in the
nationwide elections, which are seen as a litmus test for the Lee Myung-bak
administration ahead of the 2012 presidential election.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and other minor parties insist the
provision of free lunches conforms to the Constitution, which stipulates free
compulsory education through middle school. The opposition parties also contend
that the current selective program hurts the self esteem of students from
low-income families placed on the free school lunch list.
Currently, 970,000 million elementary and middle school students from low-income
households are under the state-sponsored free meal program, according to
government statistics.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and the government have dismissed the
opposition's calls as a "populist" tactic, arguing that providing free meals even
to children from well-off families with taxpayer money could undermine the
country's fiscal soundness.
Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said recently that he cannot understand the
calls for universal free lunch, suggesting the demands may have been motivated by
"socialism."
Instead, the GNP and the government have agreed to phase in the free lunch
policy, as the government estimates that the implementation of free lunches would
cost some 2 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) annually.
They agreed Thursday to more than double the number of free-lunch students to 2
million by 2012, with the related annual budget estimated at 400 billion won.
They also agreed to entirely computerize the social welfare information network
so that the list of young schoolchildren put on the free lunch list would be kept
secret.
Opposition parties, however, see it as an issue of policy priority.
"There would be no problem if the government scrapped its four-river project and
other exhibitive projects," DP chief Chung Sye-kyun said recently, saying that
North Jeolla Province is currently providing free meals to 64 percent of all
elementary, middle and high-school students despite its financial difficulties.
Free lunch programs are operated around the world in different formats and on a
variety of levels, but many industrialized nations such as the United States and
Japan run selective meal subsidy programs for low-income students.
Sweden, Finland and other Northern European nations with a strong history of
social welfare programs generally offer free meals to all students.
With the debate having gained traction, the opposition is expected to roll with
the free meal banner until election. But how the issue will actually play out in
the voting is unclear, as even experts seem sharply divided.
"Some view the move as stemming from populism, but the act of providing benefits
only to selective students, that is indeed populism. It would be right to provide
universal free meals based on the idea of the Constitution," said Cho Heung-sik,
an economy professor at Seoul National University.
Kim Jin-young, a professor of social education at Gangwon National University,
said that the measure could end up hurting the nation's balance sheet.
"It would be difficult to bear the pressure of (the free meal program's) budget
of over 2 trillion won. If the government is going to increase support for
students, it should try to provide aid for textbooks and school uniforms first,"
Kim said.
Amid the heated political debate, an alliance of some 2,000 civic groups stated
recently that nationwide defaults on payments for school meals doubled between
2006 and 2008 to 3.9 billion won.
"Since the launch of the (Lee Myung-Bak) government, tax cuts for the wealthy
have undercut the government budget and the four-river project and other massive
engineering projects have sucked in 22 trillion won, while people's welfare and
education spending has been drastically reduced," the group said at a press
conference on Tuesday.
Others, however, argue that a matter of national welfare should not be discussed
within the political spectrum right before the elections.
"The opposition is being criticized because it is trying to approach the issue
politically without providing scientific studies. I doubt if the calls for free
meals are actually for the students," said Kim Mee-hye, a professor of welfare
studies at Ewha Womans University.
The nationwide debate on free meals was first sparked by Kim Sang-gon, education
superintendent for Gyeonggi Province, who was elected in April of last year on a
pledge to introduce a phased-in implementation of free student meals for the
province.
Kim's plan, however, remains in limbo after the province's education supervisory
committee denied funds for free meals, insisting that they should first be served
selectively to students from low-income families.
"According to recent polls, about 90 percent of parents support free school
lunches. At the same time, about 90 percent are opposed to paying more taxes to
do so. Unless this contradiction is resolved, 'free school lunches' is nothing
more than an empty phrase," the JoongAng Ilbo, a leading South Korean daily, said
in a recent column.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- A free lunch program for all young schoolchildren has
emerged as one of the hottest political issues ahead of the June 2 gubernatorial
and mayoral elections.
Opposition candidates are promising to exempt all elementary and middle school
students from lunch expenses, seeking to appeal to low-income voters in the
nationwide elections, which are seen as a litmus test for the Lee Myung-bak
administration ahead of the 2012 presidential election.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and other minor parties insist the
provision of free lunches conforms to the Constitution, which stipulates free
compulsory education through middle school. The opposition parties also contend
that the current selective program hurts the self esteem of students from
low-income families placed on the free school lunch list.
Currently, 970,000 million elementary and middle school students from low-income
households are under the state-sponsored free meal program, according to
government statistics.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and the government have dismissed the
opposition's calls as a "populist" tactic, arguing that providing free meals even
to children from well-off families with taxpayer money could undermine the
country's fiscal soundness.
Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said recently that he cannot understand the
calls for universal free lunch, suggesting the demands may have been motivated by
"socialism."
Instead, the GNP and the government have agreed to phase in the free lunch
policy, as the government estimates that the implementation of free lunches would
cost some 2 trillion won (US$1.76 billion) annually.
They agreed Thursday to more than double the number of free-lunch students to 2
million by 2012, with the related annual budget estimated at 400 billion won.
They also agreed to entirely computerize the social welfare information network
so that the list of young schoolchildren put on the free lunch list would be kept
secret.
Opposition parties, however, see it as an issue of policy priority.
"There would be no problem if the government scrapped its four-river project and
other exhibitive projects," DP chief Chung Sye-kyun said recently, saying that
North Jeolla Province is currently providing free meals to 64 percent of all
elementary, middle and high-school students despite its financial difficulties.
Free lunch programs are operated around the world in different formats and on a
variety of levels, but many industrialized nations such as the United States and
Japan run selective meal subsidy programs for low-income students.
Sweden, Finland and other Northern European nations with a strong history of
social welfare programs generally offer free meals to all students.
With the debate having gained traction, the opposition is expected to roll with
the free meal banner until election. But how the issue will actually play out in
the voting is unclear, as even experts seem sharply divided.
"Some view the move as stemming from populism, but the act of providing benefits
only to selective students, that is indeed populism. It would be right to provide
universal free meals based on the idea of the Constitution," said Cho Heung-sik,
an economy professor at Seoul National University.
Kim Jin-young, a professor of social education at Gangwon National University,
said that the measure could end up hurting the nation's balance sheet.
"It would be difficult to bear the pressure of (the free meal program's) budget
of over 2 trillion won. If the government is going to increase support for
students, it should try to provide aid for textbooks and school uniforms first,"
Kim said.
Amid the heated political debate, an alliance of some 2,000 civic groups stated
recently that nationwide defaults on payments for school meals doubled between
2006 and 2008 to 3.9 billion won.
"Since the launch of the (Lee Myung-Bak) government, tax cuts for the wealthy
have undercut the government budget and the four-river project and other massive
engineering projects have sucked in 22 trillion won, while people's welfare and
education spending has been drastically reduced," the group said at a press
conference on Tuesday.
Others, however, argue that a matter of national welfare should not be discussed
within the political spectrum right before the elections.
"The opposition is being criticized because it is trying to approach the issue
politically without providing scientific studies. I doubt if the calls for free
meals are actually for the students," said Kim Mee-hye, a professor of welfare
studies at Ewha Womans University.
The nationwide debate on free meals was first sparked by Kim Sang-gon, education
superintendent for Gyeonggi Province, who was elected in April of last year on a
pledge to introduce a phased-in implementation of free student meals for the
province.
Kim's plan, however, remains in limbo after the province's education supervisory
committee denied funds for free meals, insisting that they should first be served
selectively to students from low-income families.
"According to recent polls, about 90 percent of parents support free school
lunches. At the same time, about 90 percent are opposed to paying more taxes to
do so. Unless this contradiction is resolved, 'free school lunches' is nothing
more than an empty phrase," the JoongAng Ilbo, a leading South Korean daily, said
in a recent column.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
