Seoul Daewon and Yeonghun International Middle School Designations Canceled, Busan International Middle School Approved... The Fate of 'International Middle Schools'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Confusion continues in the education sector over the re-designation evaluation of international middle schools. Using the same criteria, Seoul Daewon and Yeonghun International Middle Schools fell short of the benchmark scores, but a few days later, Busan International Middle School passed, sparking anticipated controversy over the continued existence of international middle schools.

On the 10th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it would proceed with the cancellation of designation for Daewon and Yeonghun International Middle Schools, which failed to meet the benchmark scores in the evaluation of specialized middle school performance. After a hearing and obtaining the Ministry of Education's consent, these schools will admit new students as general middle schools starting next year. Current students will retain their international middle school status until graduation.

During the review process, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education judged that the two schools failed to properly achieve their operational goals such as "nurturing global talent" and "absorbing early study abroad demand." The office explained, "Violations of academic-related laws and guidelines in school curriculum operations, which led to audit sanctions, were significant factors in the point deduction. Additionally, insufficient efforts to cultivate international professionals and to reduce educational disparities were main reasons for the cancellation. Charging over 10 million KRW annually in tuition at the compulsory education stage of middle school, while receiving poor evaluations in areas such as 'financial support per social integration (equal opportunity) candidate,' also contributed." Seoul Superintendent of Education Cho Hee-yeon criticized, "Contrary to the designation purpose, these schools are perceived as a hierarchical system above general schools, encouraging private education for that purpose."

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In contrast, Busan International Middle School was confirmed for re-designation this year. The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "Busan International Middle School is a public middle school providing free compulsory education with no tuition fees. Unlike Seoul's specialized middle schools, its curriculum is properly operated, so there is no reason to cancel its designation."

Two other international middle schools remain: besides Gyeongnam Seonin International Middle School, which opened in 2018, Gyeonggi-do Cheongshim International Middle School is also undergoing re-designation evaluation this year. The results for Cheongshim International Middle School will be notified within this month.

With contrasting outcomes in Seoul and Busan, controversy is expected. This differs from the uniform conversion of autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools into general high schools in 2025. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to propose the amendment of Article 76, Paragraph 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the deletion of Article 55 of the Enforcement Rules of the same Act to uniformly convert these schools into general middle schools.

Daewon and Yeonghun International Middle Schools, which failed re-designation, are protesting and threatening legal action. They question whether the evaluation was designed with failure in mind, noting that the benchmark score was raised from 60 to 70 points compared to five years ago. They also argue that favorable evaluation indicators, such as school member satisfaction, were adjusted downward.

In a joint statement released on the 11th, these schools said, "The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is creating measures to cancel international middle schools based on political logic." They added, "We plan to raise detailed issues regarding evaluation indicators and criteria during the upcoming hearing process and will pursue legal procedures." A school official stated, "The criteria were set to be unattainable, and parts of the evaluation items were ambiguously expressed, preventing an accurate evaluation."

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