Rising Barriers to Private Elementary School Admission... Parents Anxious Over Lottery System

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to Convey Policy to Support Offices Early Next Month
High Possibility of Non-Face-to-Face Lottery Considering COVID-19
Competition Rate Increased 1.7 Times Last Year Due to Multiple Applications Allowed
Voices Favoring On-Site Lottery Due to Screening Fee Burden
Many Schools Preparing for Non-Face-to-Face Lottery

A scene of a lottery drawing for new students taking place at a private elementary school in Seoul in 2015

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition rate for admission to private elementary schools has significantly increased, and this year, parents are keenly watching whether the online lottery system will be adopted again.

On the 26th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to deliver the basic plan for recruiting new students for the 2023 academic year at private elementary schools to the district education offices early next month. Afterwards, there will be preliminary consultations regarding the lottery method for admissions and the application schedule. Some private elementary schools are known to have announced that they will hold admission briefings around October 28 and conduct the lottery on November 21. At the end of this month, the principals of private elementary schools will discuss and decide on the lottery method and detailed schedule. A Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education official explained, "Since COVID-19 has not ended, it is highly likely that the process will proceed in the same online manner as last year."

Private elementary schools conduct application submissions and lotteries individually by school. Before COVID-19, schools held public lotteries simultaneously on the same day, and admission registration was only possible if parents attended on-site with their children on the lottery day. Three years ago, duplicate applications were not very meaningful, but after COVID-19, the on-site lottery was replaced by an online lottery, effectively allowing duplicate applications. Although this increased options for parents, the admission competition rate also rose sharply. During the COVID-19 period, private elementary schools were also evaluated positively for increasing the proportion of face-to-face classes and having well-established care systems, which further boosted their popularity.

The competition rate for admission to private elementary schools in Seoul for the 2022 academic year rose to 11.7 to 1, 1.7 times higher than the previous year (6.8 to 1). One private elementary school under the Seongdong-Gwangjin district education office recorded a competition rate of 27.1 to 1. Last year, among 38 private elementary schools in Seoul, six had competition rates exceeding 20 to 1, and twelve schools exceeded 130% of the average competition rate.

Among prospective parents, there are voices hoping for a return to offline (on-site) lotteries, citing the decreased predictability caused by allowing duplicate applications. During non-face-to-face lotteries, parents did not need to attend, and if selected, registration was possible, leading many parents to apply to multiple schools to increase their chances of acceptance. As a result, popular schools sometimes saw competition rates soaring well above 20 to 1. A parent who applied to private elementary schools last year explained, "With duplicate applications allowed, many parents applied to more than five schools. The competition rate rose sharply, and waiting numbers extended into the 100s, so we had to wait a long time."

Paying the application fee (30,000 KRW) for each school when applying to multiple schools is also a burden. The lack of a centralized computer system for private elementary school admissions means each school has different application forms and requires separate application fees, which is another challenging factor.

A representative from a private elementary school in Gwangjin-gu said, "Since we need to consult with the education office, we expect the lottery method to be finalized by mid-October, but as the COVID-19 situation has not ended, we are currently preparing for a non-face-to-face lottery method." They added, "During times when attending school was difficult due to COVID-19, maintaining non-face-to-face interactive classes received good evaluations from parents, but now that in-person classes are underway, we expect the competition rate to be somewhat lower than in previous years."

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