"I Still Don't Understand Even After Attending Academies": Math Dropouts Surge by 10% in Four Years

Six out of ten elementary, middle, and high school students receive private tutoring to improve their math grades, but 30% of them do not understand the material taught at private academies, according to a recent survey. Although many students attend academies to avoid becoming "Supoja" (students who give up on math), one in three ends up giving up on the subject. The most cited reason for becoming a Supoja was "the problems are too difficult." Even seven out of ten teachers said it is difficult to solve killer questions on the College Scholastic Ability Test without private tutoring, highlighting the need for improvement in the current math assessment methods.

On January 27, Assemblywoman Kang Kyungsook and the education civic group "No Worries About Private Education" (Sagyukse) held a press conference at the National Assembly to announce the current status of math dropouts and the realities of private math education among students nationwide. A survey conducted from November 17 to 28 last year of 6,652 elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers found that the proportion of Supoja has surged by about 10% compared to four years ago.

In a 2021 survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of Supoja was 11.6% for 6th graders, 22.6% for 9th graders, and 32.3% for 11th graders. Four years later, these figures have soared to 17.9% (up 6.3 percentage points), 32.9% (up 10.3 percentage points), and 40% (up 7.7 percentage points), respectively. The higher the grade, the more students reported wanting to give up on math. These rates are two to three times higher than the proportion of students below the basic level in the 2024 National Assessment of Academic Achievement for math (12.7% for 9th graders, 12.3% for 11th graders).

The most common reason students gave for wanting to give up on math was "the problems are too difficult" (42.1%). This was followed by "poor math grades" (16.6%) and "overwhelming amount of material to learn" (15.5%). Among teachers, 44.6% cited "accumulated learning deficits" as the main cause for students giving up on math, followed by "lack of interest and confidence" (29.4%) and "insufficient home and social support" (10.8%). While students mainly experience immediate difficulty, teachers see the fundamental issue as a lack of basic math skills.

On the morning of the 6th, when the final mock exam before the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (November 16) was conducted, students were preparing for the exam at Yeouido High School in Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

As students progress to higher grades, their math-related stress levels also rise. The percentage of students reporting "math stress" was 73% for 6th graders, 81.0% for 9th graders, and 86.6% for 11th graders. Sagyukse interpreted this as "the rapidly increasing difficulty of the curriculum and the vast amount of material are placing excessive burdens on students," adding, "This emotional exhaustion ultimately leads to giving up on learning."

To solve difficult math problems, 64.7% of students receive private math tutoring. Among them, 85.9% engage in advanced learning, but one in three (30.3%) said they "do not understand the material." This means that although students rely on private tutoring, many are repeatedly engaging in meaningless study without actually understanding the content.

Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment is that private math tutoring is necessary to achieve good grades under the current assessment system. Even among elementary, middle, and high school teachers, 60.2% said private tutoring is needed to "understand school math lessons." Additionally, 70.4% said private tutoring is "essential to prepare for killer questions on the College Scholastic Ability Test."

On this day, Shin Soyoung, head of Sagyukse, stated, "We must pay attention to the fact that the main reason students give up on math is the difficulty level," adding, "We need to first address the relative grading structure that inevitably leads to excessively difficult questions."

She also proposed "comprehensive measures centered on school education, absolute evaluation based on achievement, and presenting appropriate math levels tailored to students' career paths."

Assemblywoman Kang Kyungsook said, "Preventing students from giving up on math is an urgent national responsibility," and strongly urged immediate action.

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