Busan Office of Education Achieves Progress in Reducing Educational Gap Between East and West Regions

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education (Acting Superintendent Choi Yoon-hong) announced on the 21st that meaningful progress has been made in reducing the educational gap between the eastern and western regions after two years of intensive efforts since 2023 during the tenure of former Superintendent Ha Yoon-soo.

According to the analysis of the 2024 Busan-style Academic Achievement Evaluation (BEST) results (evaluation period: 2024.7.22. to 9.13.), the academic performance gap among middle school students between the eastern and western regions has decreased compared to 2023. The gap in the proportion of students achieving basic academic skills or higher (levels 4 to 3) in Korean, Mathematics, and English between regions decreased from 9.5% in 2023 to 7.7% in 2024, a reduction of 1.8 percentage points.

Considering the reality that the academic gap between regions had been continuously widening, the shift to a decreasing trend indicates that the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education’s efforts to close the academic gap are beginning to show meaningful effects.

The Busan-style Academic Achievement Evaluation (BEST) is an evaluation system implemented in 2023 as a pledge of former Superintendent Ha Yoon-soo to eliminate opaque education, accurately diagnosing the academic ability of individual students. Additionally, the Busan Academic Support System (BASS) provides personalized learning tailored to each student based on the BEST results.

To resolve the chronic educational gap between the eastern and western regions, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education established the Academic Development Institute in November 2022 and created the ‘Interregional Educational Gap Reduction Task Force’ in March 2023 to promote various academic improvement policies.

Representative policies to reduce the educational gap include the public education top teacher’s ‘Busan-style Internet Lectures,’ the residential ‘Character and Core Subjects Camp’ and commuting ‘We Can Do Seasonal School’ to address learning gaps during vacations, the ‘We Can Do Weekend School’ for high school students, and the establishment of ‘Cafe-style Self-directed Learning Rooms’ to create a better study environment, all of which help improve students’ academic performance.

In particular, the Character and Core Subjects Camp prioritizes providing educational opportunities to students from low-income and vulnerable groups, as well as those from underdeveloped areas such as the original downtown and western Busan regions.

Since 2023, after establishing cafe-style self-directed learning rooms in general high schools in the original downtown and western Busan areas, participation in self-directed learning increased by 7.2 percentage points. According to a survey conducted in November 2024 targeting 5,326 students, 74.5% of respondents stated that the educational gap reduction projects helped reduce private education expenses.

These efforts by the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education to reduce educational disparities have also received positive responses from the general public. In a policy opinion survey conducted from November 25 to December 3, 2024, targeting 1,000 adult men and women residing in Busan, satisfaction with the educational gap reduction policies rose to 83.7%, an increase of 11.5 percentage points from 72.2% in the first half of the year.

Acting Superintendent Choi Yoon-hong said, “The policy to reduce the educational gap between regions, which was a pledge of former Superintendent Ha Yoon-soo, has begun to show gradual results. The Office of Education will continue to strive to enhance the competitiveness of public education through policies such as the Character and Core Subjects Camp and We Can Do Seasonal School, which alleviate regional educational disparities and reduce private education costs.” He added, “We will actively discover and implement new policies that reflect the needs of the educational community through public opinion gathering and other means.”

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education.

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