Ministry of Education Agrees to Convert Dongseong, Hangaram, and Sungmoon High Schools to General High Schools... "Steadfast Promotion of High School System Reform"

Ministry of Education, "Respects Court's First Instance Ruling on Cancellation of Autonomous Private High School Designation"
Also Expands Support for Early Transition to General High Schools

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Education announced that it has decided to ‘agree’ to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s application for consent to revoke the autonomous private high school (Jasago) designation of Dongseong High School, Hangaram High School, and Sungmoon High School, following deliberation by the Special Purpose High School Designation Committee, and notified the Seoul Office of Education of the result on the 31st.

This application for consent to revoke the Jasago designation by the Seoul Office of Education was made following the schools’ voluntary requests to convert to general high schools. The schools applied for conversion citing reasons such as declining school-age population, changes in the educational environment including free high school education and the high school credit system, the need to redefine the role of schools, and a decrease in student support rates.

The Ministry of Education explained, "The schools have announced plans to faithfully operate the curriculum for current students and to use the support funds provided upon conversion to improve the quality of the transitional curriculum and the educational environment. There were no procedural defects in the Office of Education’s process regarding the revocation of the Jasago designation, so we decided to agree."

The Ministry of Education stated that while it respects the court’s first-instance ruling related to the revocation of the Jasago designation, this decision pertains to procedural issues in the operational performance evaluation. It emphasized that, amid the accelerating rapid changes across all social and economic sectors, the restructuring of the high school system for future education will be carried out without disruption.

It has been pointed out that the student selection rights granted to autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools have, contrary to their original intent, ranked schools based on academic performance, causing intense competition for high school admission, overheating of private education, and deepening inequality between social classes, thereby negatively impacting education overall. The Ministry of Education particularly judged that, given the rapid changes in the vocational world due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the sharp decline in student numbers caused by low birth rates and aging population, the education system must urgently shift from a model where certain schools monopolize students to one where each student can grow into a talent equipped with future competencies.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education announced that from 2025, it is preparing a future education system that goes beyond diversifying school types to enable various curricula to be operated within schools. When the high school system is reorganized around general high schools and the high school credit system is fully implemented in 2025, students will be able to select and complete curricula suited to their career paths and aptitudes independently, growing into self-directed talents.

Furthermore, the Ministry added that it will actively support the smooth restructuring of the high school system by expanding financial support if autonomous private high schools convert early to general high schools before 2025. Reflecting field opinions that financial difficulties are significant immediately after conversion, it plans to expand financial support and continue operating distinctive curricula through designations such as leading schools for the high school credit system and subject-specialized schools after conversion.

The Ministry of Education stated, "Metropolitan and provincial offices of education will also form dedicated transition support task forces (TFs) and establish customized support systems for individual schools through curriculum and financial support," and added, "The Ministry of Education will actively cooperate in this effort."

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