Jeonju Arts High School Fails to Convert to General High School Due to Accreditation Conditions

Demand for Self-Help Efforts for Specialized Art Education

Photo by Jeonbuk Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] The Jeonbuk Provincial Office of Education did not approve the conversion of Jeonju Arts High School, which applied for the cancellation of its designation as a special-purpose high school, into a general high school.

On the 7th, the Office of Education held a Special-Purpose High School Designation and Operation Committee meeting and announced that it decided not to approve the application from Jeonju Arts High School, which requested cancellation of its special-purpose high school designation due to a sharp decline in new student enrollment caused by the decreasing school-age population and the resulting severe financial burden.

The committee focused on reviewing the feasibility of Jeonju Arts High School achieving its goal of nurturing professional artists, the possibility of normalizing school education if converted to a general high school, the impact on recruitment of new students at non-standardized general high schools or specialized high schools in the province amid the rapid decline in the school-age population, and the self-help efforts of the school foundation to overcome management difficulties.

Additionally, the committee comprehensively considered the fact that the school was re-designated as a special-purpose high school with a “normal” rating in the operational performance evaluation conducted on June 29 under the Education Act, concerns about the outflow of artistic talent from Jeonbuk to other cities and provinces, and the difficulty of judging that the purpose of the special-purpose high school is unattainable solely due to financial conditions when reviewing the application for cancellation of the special-purpose high school designation.

The committee pointed out that although Jeonju Arts High School was approved on the condition that “school management and maintenance” would be operated through school income and founder’s contributions at the time of establishment, the proportion of corporate contributions was only 0.11% (KRW 8,726,000) of the total school accounting revenue (KRW 7,559,868,000) last year.

Furthermore, despite facing financial limits for school operation due to a declining student enrollment rate every year, the school did not prepare supplementary measures for student recruitment and operated general staff in excess, showing no self-help efforts such as reducing faculty and staff to strengthen school management.

Moreover, the committee pointed out concerns that if converted to a general high school, the reduction of major subjects and the ambiguity of identity as an arts high school would lead to inadequate curriculum operation, potentially disadvantaging students in university admissions.

Jeonju Arts High School is the only private special-purpose arts high school in Jeonbuk. It was approved in 1995 to recruit students nationwide with five departments and 15 classes, but was reorganized in 2007 into three departments and 21 classes, operating music, design and fine arts, and performing arts departments.

An official from the Office of Education said, “In the ongoing situation of declining school-age population, schools themselves must reduce classes to strengthen school management,” adding, “Since the right to select students nationwide is guaranteed, it is a time when efforts to establish the uniqueness and identity of Jeonbuk arts education through supplementary measures such as operating a high-quality, student-tailored curriculum are more necessary.”

Meanwhile, Jeonju Arts High School’s student enrollment rate has been decreasing every year due to the continuous decline in the school-age population, with rates of 71.5% in 2018, 62.9% in 2019, and 59.6% in 2020.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.