Gyeongnam Office of Education Holds 'Completely Changed' High School Admission Process Briefing Session

Gyeongnam Office of Education will hold an explanatory session on the 2024 academic year high school admission basic plan from the 10th to the 12th at the Provincial Office of Education Science Education Center and other locations.

According to the Provincial Office of Education, the session will be conducted for 800 participants, including vice principals of middle and high schools, education support office supervisors, and heads of 3rd-grade middle school classes.

The session will cover ▲ distinctions between early and late high school admissions and application methods and eligibility ▲ admission plans by period ▲ guidelines for calculating internal academic scores for the 2024 high school admission ▲ major changes, among other topics.

Gyeongnam Office of Education.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

The Provincial Office of Education highlighted the biggest changes from last year's high school admissions as ▲ increasing volunteer activity hours for internal academic scores to 15 hours over 3 years ▲ adding eligibility for students who are victims of domestic violence among graduates or prospective graduates from other cities and provinces to apply to high schools in the province ▲ strengthening practical benefits for priority allocation of siblings in general high schools in equalization areas ▲ expanding school choice rights for students with severe illnesses.

Considering that current 3rd-grade middle school students have steadily completed more than 5 hours of volunteer activities since their 1st grade despite the impact of COVID-19, the full score standard was set at 15 hours over 3 years.

Regarding priority allocation for siblings in equalization areas, it was explained that previously, families with three children were given priority allocation from the second child to schools where siblings were enrolled, but now they can choose between nearby schools based on their address or schools where siblings are enrolled from the second child onward.

For students with severe illnesses among successful candidates in equalization areas, the previous method of assigning schools near their address has been changed to allow them to choose from nearby schools that are coeducational or single-gender schools attended only by male or female students.

The Provincial Office of Education plans to enhance fairness and transparency in high school admissions through this explanatory session and strengthen guidance and promotion for students and parents.

This year’s high school admission schedule begins with special-purpose high schools on July 17.

Specialized high schools will have their admissions from November 23 to December 5, and foreign language high schools and general high schools from December 18 to December 20.

The announcement of successful candidates in equalization areas will be on January 5 next year, and the assignment of successful candidates to schools is scheduled to be announced on the 12th of the same month.

Kim Kyung-gyu, Director of Career Education, said, “Considering the high school admission schedules of 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide and the normalization of the middle school curriculum, we will proceed with the high school admission schedule and strengthen career counseling and high school promotion to alleviate the concerns of students and parents regarding school admissions.” He added, “We will increase the utilization of the high school admission portal established last year by the Provincial Office of Education so that the educational community, including students, parents, and staff, can check all information about high schools at a glance.”

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