The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has released its report on preliminary operations at independent private high schools. It's contents prove that it would be hard to make meaningful changes in how schools are operated unless there are changes in the way education is primarily based on what is needed for university education. That is why the evaluation committee that visited "independent private high schools" (jariphyeong saripgo) recognizes their potential as models for innovation in private education and still officially takes the position that there should not be more of them.
According to the report, most of the six schools chose their students by assessing their abilities in Korean, English and Mathematics. English test scores like from TOEFL are being used in selection as well, and it has been noted that schools are essentially selecting students by their grades. They are also not getting far beyond the kind of education that is organized around university entrance. Their special aptitude education is similar to regular high schools in that it is mainly about intensifying what is already learned in each subject, and both students and teachers say that the schools focus on advancing to university. Schools that said they would refuse government financial support and promote education true to their founding principles have only kept half of that promise.
Their have long been concerns about the negative side effects at independent private high schools. There was fierce debate when they began the official experimenting three years ago, and in 2003 the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) expressed worries that these schools would become university entrance test preparation institutes. One of them is the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (Minjok Sagwan High School) is famous as a "university entrance" school, and everyone in the know knows that middle school and other students are taking private institute classes to better their chances of getting into that high school. Students from poor families can't even dream of getting into independent private high schools. Meanwhile it cannot be denied that they account for a considerable number of the people who want to see more independent private high schools, as part of a larger number of schools known for university entrance yet that are trying to get out of the “equalization."
What the report shows you is the common truth that fixing an educational landscape where everything is about university entrance is what Korean education needs most, no more diverse types of schools. Education authorities need to avoid forgetting that.
The Hankyoreh, 5 September 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Report on 'Independent Private' High Schools |
