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CURRENT ISSUES 14| Education Reform in Korea

Keywords

tertiary education corruption transparency

school admission Moon administration maintenance of wealth

private education conform to privileged

reform resort to reinforce

resignation election pledge top-tier

embattled retain status perception

allegations College Scholastic Ability extra-curricular

Test (CSAT)
cram industry

1) Background Information on Korean Education

① High Achieving

By some measures, South Korea—the Republic of Korea—is the most educated country in the world.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 70 percent of
24- to 35-year-olds in the nation of 51.5 million people have completed some form of tertiary
education—the highest percentage worldwide and more than 20 percentage points above
comparable attainment rates in the United States. The country also consistently ranks among the
best-performing countries in the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

② High Pressure

The education on offer for older children and teens, is demanding, with high pressure exams for
students wanting to progress to university. The pressure to score well on the exam has been blamed
as the cause of teenage depression and suicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, suicide was the leading cause of death among those
aged 9-24 in 2013. The reasons behind teenage suicides were: school admission (39.2%), family
troubles (16.9%), financial
difficulties (16.7%), and loneliness
(12.5%). Korean students are not
satisfied with their life because of
the enormous amount of pressure
they receive from studying.
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③ Private Education

In order to prepare their children for the University test, South Korean parents spend thousands of
dollars a year on after-school tuition, which is private-schooling on an industrial scale. From Monday
to Friday children usually attend school and have self-study sessions in the afternoon. In middle
school, students begin having concentrated afterschool courses in hagwons (private academies). 75
percent of all children attend the 100,000 hagwons that are all over South Korea.

2) Government’s Educational Reform

(1) Background

Just two weeks after the resignation of his embattled justice

minister over allegations relating to favorable university
admissions for his daughter and other corruption allegations,
the Moon administration announced reforms in the country’s
admissions system.

(2) Problem

Elite private schools which do not have to follow Korea’s

national curriculum have been used to provide more
privileged families a leg-up into the country’s top universities,
according to critics.
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(3) Goal

Moon announced what he called “public trust building measures”, including:

① Increasing importance of College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) – enlarge the proportion of school
leavers admitted to university on the basis of their marks in the grueling College Scholastic
Ability Test (CSAT)
② End of special purpose high schools – end to elite private high schools and foreign language
schools by 2025.

(4) Educational Reforms in relation to the Moon administration

① Total elimination of elite schools

The government announced it will convert all the autonomous elite schools without recourse to the
existing licensing process – a move that officials said was discussed by the Moon administration in
September.

“These high schools have become too focused on getting students into top universities in the
country,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye said at a 25 October press conference. “The ministry will
be working on converting all of them into regular high schools by 2025 and improving the quality of
education at regular high schools throughout the country.”

The elimination of elite schools was an election pledge during a campaign that brought Moon to
power in 2017. But the process of periodically assessing elite schools to ensure they conform to
particular criteria in order to retain their license to operate is seen to be ineffective as a number
of such schools have resorted to lengthy legal action to retain their status.
② Return to exam-based admissions
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Parents and universities’ main focus will be on the increase in CSAT-based admissions. Academics
note this is a reversal the government’s policy – during his election campaign Moon promised to
promote admissions based on criteria other than academic scores, which was fueling Korea’s cram
industry and causing severe stress among high school students.

More than a year of debate after Moon took office ended in a decision last year to ask all universities
to expand the quota for selection via the CSAT to 30% by 2022. In 2018 just under 23% of admissions
were based on CSAT scores, which the Korean Council for University Education says was a record
low.

And only a few weeks ago Education Minister Yoo told a parliamentary committee the test-based
admissions quota would not be increased. Instead the ministry would “improve transparency” in
the early admissions system.

Yoo indicated a reversal of that position in her 25 October press conference. “Universities based in
Seoul that select students based on their grade averages, extracurricular activities and special skill
sets will have to select more based on their CSAT scores,” she said, adding the exact increase will
be announced in the coming month. Leaked comments from officials suggest the proportion could
rise to 40% of admissions by 2025.

3) Pro Con: the abolishment of elite high schools

(1) Agree

① Privileged education and the maintenance of wealth

The expensive tuition fees along with the private education that comes with the preparation
process of entering a special purpose high school has spurred a nickname for these schools as “elite”
high schools. Families that are unable to pay the high costs - sometimes 3-10 times the cost of a
regular public high school in Korea – are unable to send their children to these schools, which are
known to have better college admission rates. Hence, critics of special purpose high schools say
that these educational institutions are a function of society that continues and reinforces the gap
between the rich and the poor.

② Loss of original purpose

Critics argue that special purpose high schools rarely serve their original function but rather now
serve the purpose of sending students to top-tier universities. Many students from foreign language
high schools do not enter language related majors in college, which defeats the purpose of foreign
language high schools’ goal of cultivating intellectuals in chosen languages. Similarly, autonomous
private high schools also do not serve their initial goal of creating a more diverse educational
environment for students, but rather eliminating some subjects, like PE and art, for seniors and
alternatively making students prepare for college exams.

③ Unfair college admissions

Since there is a perception that students from these special purpose high schools are more
competitive and well prepared, critics have argued that students from these high schools are
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favored during university admissions compared to students who are not from these schools.
Especially for university exams that do not consider the CSAT and rather the extra-curricular
activities of students, some argue that students from special purpose high schools have the upper
ground compared to their counterparts.

④ Instigation of private education

Despite expensive tuition costs, there is still severe competition among students in order to enter
the school, which propels the private education that prepared students who want to enter these
selected schools. Thus, the existence of the special purpose high schools instigate the private
education frenzy.

(2) Disagree

① Various educational opportunities necessary for students

Proponents of special purpose high schools argue that students have diverse interests along with
various levels of ability. They argue that a single form of public education will not be able to meet
the needs and nurture students that have these different interests and abilities. Special purpose
high schools were an alternative for students that had different interests or needed a challenge
compared to normal public schools, and banning these schools would be restricting their
opportunity to cultivate their talents.

② Gap exacerbated after abolition: 8 school districts of Gangnam

If special purpose high schools are abolished, there would be more severe forms of gap between
the rich and the poor because now all the “good quality” schools would be concentrated in the
richest and most educationally competitive neighborhood in Korea: the 8 schools districts of
Gangnam. The housings in these districts are notoriously expensive, making it next to impossible
for people outside of the district to move to these areas. Thus, only families that are able to afford
to live in such areas would benefit from better quality educational environment while others who
are outside of Seoul, or simply unable to afford it, would not.

③ Politically motivated

The most recent announcement of educational reform of the Moon administration came as a
surprise at some of the policies are different from the political promises he made when he was
running for office. Although President Moon vowed for less importance of CSAT at the time, now
his policies promise an expanded role of the CSAT. Many view this as a political tactic for the
upcoming April local elections, after the controversy of the former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, and
his daughter’s university entrance scandal. Proponents argue that educational policies should not
be motivated by political interest as it influences the lives of future students.

④ Problem-Solution mismatch

Proponents also argue that even if the problems of the special purpose high schools are true, like
the loss of original purpose, the sudden ban of these schools is not an adequate response because
it does not provide a direct solution to the problem, but rather create more problems.
 Fineman Academy | 실용영어 2020
READING PASSAGE #14

PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS: FUNCTIONING OR FLAWED?

One of the things South Korean president Moon Jae In has promised in his campaign is the
leveling of high schools. This in turn translates to the gradual abolishment of specialized high
schools, namely autonomous private high schools and special purpose high schools. Much
debate has been seen over this subject, with conflicting views dividing the nation’s opinion.

Special purpose high schools was coined in South Korea in 1973. With the leveling of high
schools in 1973 under the presidency of former president Park Chung-hee, certain schools
were classified as special purpose high schools because of the nature of certain high schools’
curricula. Now there are five main types of high schools: science high schools, foreign
language high schools, international high schools (not to be confused with international
schools), arts high schools, and sports high schools. Special purpose high schools are yet to
come under fire because they are seen to stay true to their original purposes.

Autonomous private high schools are a recent addition. Initiated under the presidency of
former president Lee Myung-bak, it aimed to provide various forms of education and suiting
the interests of all.

However, in recent years this system has been under fire. One point of criticism is that
autonomous private high schools have lost their original purpose. Many say that to a certain
extent, autonomous private high schools, instead of providing a wide variety of education,
are all reducing arts and sports times while lengthening times for core subjects. The only
schools, people say, that is true to the original interests of autonomous high schools are the
Korean Minjok Leadership Academy and Hana High School. This is reflected in the polls —
52.5% of the nation thinks that the autonomous high school system should be ended
effectively changing all autonomous high schools into regular high schools. The only part of
the poll that had a majority of keeping autonomous private high schools was conservatives
over the age of 50.

On the other hand, people who oppose the abolition of autonomous private high schools have
a different case. One is that the abolition of autonomous private high schools will bring back
the problem of the 8 school districts of Gangnam, which was one of the problems that the
introduction of autonomous private high schools was trying to solve. This may potentially
lead to a rich and poor gap like the one before.

With that said, the best approach in the current state is to reevaluate the purpose of
autonomous high schools and steer autonomous private high schools to fit that definition.
Seeing that the biggest problem observed is the wrongful mutation of autonomous private
high schools, it would be in Korea’s best interest to make amends to maximize the benefits
of autonomous private high schools while correcting the flaws.

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 Fineman Academy | 실용영어 2020
READING PASSAGE #14

1. Summarize the passage.

2. What are the reasons, other than mentioned in the passage, behind the Korean
government’s plan to abolish specialized high schools? Why does the government expect
this plan to work?

3. What can you infer to be the original purpose of autonomous private high schools when
they were first created, based on paragraph 4?

4. In paragraph 5, the author mentions the problem of the 8 school districts of Gangnam.
Explain what this problem is in detail and how that problem can lead to a rich and poor gap.

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 Fineman Academy | 실용영어 2020
READING PASSAGE #14

5. Do you agree that there has been a wrongful mutation of autonomous private high
schools (paragraph 6)? If so, what do you think should be the rightful purpose? If not, explain
in detail with supporting arguments to support your opinion.

6. Do you agree or disagree with the Korean government’s decision to abolish certain special
purpose high schools by 2025? Give specific details and examples to support your argument.