Incheon Office of Education to Improve Middle and High School Districts and Middle School Assignment Methods

Incheon Office of Education held a kickoff briefing session on the 15th for a research project regarding school districts for middle and high schools and the middle school assignment method.
[Photo by Incheon Office of Education]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education has decided to improve the current school districts for middle and high schools to address issues such as long-distance commuting.

The Office of Education announced on the 15th that it has launched a research project to improve the school districts for middle and high schools and the middle school assignment method.

The research project seeks specific practical measures to minimize students' commuting inconveniences and disparities in student numbers between schools due to changes in conditions such as population movement caused by new town development.

It plans to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current school districts, determine whether separate school districts can be applied to new town development areas, and analyze the optimal assignment methods according to school district adjustments.

The research project is being conducted by the Korea Local Autonomy Economic Research Institute and is expected to be completed early next year.

Incheon’s high school districts are divided by administrative districts into School District 1 (Michuhol-gu, Jung-gu, Dong-gu, Namdong-gu, Yeonsu-gu), School District 2 (Bupyeong-gu, Gyeyang-gu), School District 3 (Seo-gu), and three joint school districts.

Students residing in Yeonsu-gu can only apply to schools in School District 1, but if the quota for the first-choice school is exceeded, they may be assigned to schools in Jung-gu or Namdong-gu.

Middle schools consist of nine school districts and 16 island middle school zones. Typically, students apply in order to several middle schools within the district of their elementary school, and assignments are made by lottery.

As a result, cases have occurred where students who were not assigned to their first-choice school end up attending relatively distant schools, leading to numerous complaints from parents.

An official from the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "The results of the research project will be used as a blueprint for revising school districts and student placement plans," adding, "We will improve the current school districts to suit Incheon’s changing educational environment and local conditions."

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