Gifted High School Students Now Eligible for Early Admission to the Four Major Institutes of Science and Technology

Students from science gifted high schools will be able to enter the four major science and technology institutes (KAIST, GIST, DGIST, UNIST) early after completing the second year starting next year. The relevant science gifted high schools include Seoul Science High School, Incheon Science Arts Gifted High School, Gyeonggi Science High School, Daegu Science High School, Daejeon Science High School, Gwangju Science High School, Sejong Science Arts Gifted High School (all public), and Korea Science Academy of KAIST (national).

The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho, hereinafter ‘MSIT’) announced on the 2nd that the revision of the academic regulations and enforcement decree of the four major science and technology institutes (KAIST, GIST, DGIST, UNIST) was passed at the Cabinet meeting.

This revision allows early admission to the science and technology institutes for students currently enrolled in science gifted high schools, which was previously impossible. Until now, early admission to the science and technology institutes was only available to students from general high schools and science high schools.

MSIT plans to fully consult with the four major science and technology institutes and the eight gifted high schools to reflect the related matters in the 2025 academic year admission guidelines of the science and technology institutes so that this system can be utilized starting from the 2025 academic year admissions.

According to MSIT, the Korea Science Academy of KAIST affiliated with KAIST plans to implement the new system starting from the 2025 academic year, and it will be available to students who enrolled in 2023. The other seven gifted high schools have stated that they will decide whether to utilize the system after monitoring the progress.

Gifted education special cases under the 'Gifted Education Promotion Act' have also been added to the scope of the science gifted selection system of each science and technology institute.

Minister Lee Jong-ho of MSIT said, “Allowing science gifted students with special abilities in the field of science and technology to enter the four major science and technology institutes such as KAIST through an accelerated process can lead to early securing of talented individuals,” and added, “We will do our best to anticipate various concerns that may arise during the growth process of outstanding talents and ensure that positive effects are achieved without side effects.”

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