SPECULATIONS OVER TRADITIONAL MUSIC EDUCATION

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A claim that schools in Korea are to reduce education on traditional music from 2025 has triggered strong backlash from the traditional music sector. The Ministry of Education has denied the speculation.

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Students play the traditional instrument janggu to a traditional Korean rhythm. As the beat gets faster, everyone becomes excited.

[Soundbite] Hwangbo So-yun(Middle school student) : "I enjoyed learning traditional music. It's slow but it's exciting and fun."

Traditional music currently accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the music curriculum in elementary and middle schools. But there have been claims of a significant reduction in the revised curriculum to be introduced in 2025. This is the 2022 draft of the revised music curriculum. The term "traditional music" is missing in all evaluation categories. Currently, it's included in six categories. The table of music elements and concepts showing at a glance what students should learn has been replaced with a brief guideline.

[Soundbite] Jeong Eun-kyung(Society of Study for Korean Music Education) : "The current table of musical elements and concepts and evaluation criteria appear mandatory, whereas the revised evaluation criteria do not. Those who write textbooks don't care about their contents."

The education ministry says the draft is not final yet. It says the term "traditional music" was omitted because the emphasis in the revised curriculum is on real-life education rather than on drawing boundaries among music genres.

[Soundbite] Shin Jin-soo(Ministry of Education) : "The traditional music curriculum will not be reduced as much. We will collect the opinions of school teachers and experts so that music can be enjoyed in real life."

The ministry is collecting expert opinions and will finalize the revised school curriculum by the end of the year.