Cho Hee-yeon "Bold Improvement of Seoul Area High School Entrance Ranking Percentile System"

2nd Anniversary Press Conference
Transition to Education Focused on One Person Only

"Avoid Ranking in Compulsory Education
Promote Horizontal Diversification"

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is announcing the plan for in-person classes on the 18th at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This plan, which includes the Ministry of Education's phased and sequential in-person class announcement according to social distancing guidelines and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's detailed implementation measures, stipulates that for 3rd-year high school students, daily attendance is the principle, while 1st and 2nd-year students will have alternating weeks by grade and class, combining remote and in-person classes. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, announced that he will boldly reform the percentile ranking system in the admissions process for general high schools in the Seoul area.

At a press conference held on the 30th at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to mark the second anniversary of his second term, Superintendent Cho stated, "We will avoid hierarchical ranking in the compulsory education stage and promote horizontal diversification."

He pointed out, "The percentile ranking system is a problem of hierarchical ranking at the curriculum level," and added, "The middle school achievement evaluation system introduced in 2012 was a paradigm shift in evaluation, changing middle school assessments from relative evaluation to absolute evaluation." He further said, "We have already started a task force (TF) composed of relevant experts and will boldly improve the system."

Superintendent Cho also said, "We will strengthen just differential policies." He diagnosed that issues such as educational gaps and inequality, basic academic underachievement, and the digital divide are likely to worsen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He said, "We are preparing comprehensive support measures by operating a separate TF to assist with preparing for the qualification exam, an important gateway for out-of-school students to receive academic recognition," and added, "Along with enriching non-face-to-face methodologies, we aim to explore the path of two-track education, two-track educational administration, and two-track educational services."

To actively address the problem of basic academic underachievement, he announced the establishment of a 'Dyslexia and Borderline Intelligence Support Team' and said that opportunities will be provided for treatment at specialized therapy institutions.

Superintendent Cho emphasized, "I have expressed the goal of educational innovation as a shift from elitist education to education focused on the individual," and stated, "Ultimately, one million classrooms mean one million students each being treated as the only one, achieving 'education for the only one' in every classroom, and realizing such education."

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