Lee Ju-ho: "Full Adoption of Absolute Evaluation for High School Credit System Is Better"

Minister Lee Ju-ho of the Ministry of Education CBS Radio Interview
"It is a difficult task but the direction education must take"
"Most advanced countries use absolute evaluation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, hinted at the possibility of fully adopting an absolute evaluation system for the high school credit system's achievement assessment method, saying the direction of education reform can be summed up as "customized education for all."

Minister Lee appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 6th and explained, "The core of the (high school credit system) is to provide customized education for students," adding, "The high school credit system was initiated during the previous administration, and we intend to carry on and preserve its purpose well."

The high school credit system allows high school students to select subjects based on their career paths and aptitudes, similar to university students, and to earn and accumulate credits for subjects that meet the completion criteria to graduate. However, some have criticized the system as unrealistic, pointing out that high schools are not yet equipped to offer a wide variety of subjects. There have also been criticisms that the absolute evaluation method of the high school credit system makes it difficult to secure differentiation.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is delivering a New Year's address at the opening ceremony held on the afternoon of the 2nd at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City. Photo by Yonhap News

In response, Minister Lee said, "A teacher can teach a slightly wider variety of subjects and even advanced subjects," adding, "We need to provide teacher retraining in that direction or take measures such as encouraging double majors from the teacher training stage."

Regarding absolute evaluation, he said, "If some classes have many A grades and others do not, parents will have considerable complaints," and emphasized, "There must be sufficient trust in teachers' evaluation capabilities and the fairness of evaluations."

Minister Lee also mentioned the possibility of fully adopting absolute evaluation in the high school credit system, which will be implemented starting in the 2025 academic year. He explained, "If a nine-grade system is applied to common subjects, universities will consider it reliable and focus only on that. Then, second- and third-year students might think that classes do not affect college entrance exams and may become disengaged."

He added, "If we are going to introduce it anyway, it is better to thoroughly train and prepare teachers and switch to absolute evaluation all at once," and noted, "There are concerns that partial implementation could cause more side effects, so we are currently reviewing these issues."

Addressing criticism that the full adoption of absolute evaluation could undermine internal school grades, he said, "There is a global system called IB (International Baccalaureate) that evaluates students," adding, "Teachers are thoroughly trained, and a central organization monitors whether teachers properly evaluate students according to the standards. It has credibility."

Furthermore, Minister Lee emphasized, "Although it is a difficult task, this is the direction education must take, and many advanced countries already use absolute evaluation," concluding, "This is a real opportunity to carry out education reform."

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