Autonomous private high schools are differentiated from other private schools with no grant by government, which results in more flexible operation and higher tuition fees. They were first introduced in 2001 to provide diversity in education with creative curriculums.

According to the Seoul education office, only 5 out of 13 autonomous high schools in the capital passed performance assessments for license renewal, which are conducted every five years. As a result, the special-purpose schools will be re-designated as ordinary ones once the education minister agrees, while current attendees will remain as autonomous private school students.

Schools that have operated under the founding purpose of providing diverse education will pass evaluations and continue to run. However, those that have instigated competition for college admissions against the initial goal will lose their licenses, the Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye said. 

Commentary by Heather Eom, Education Services Manager, British Council in Korea sunhyun.eom@britishcouncil.org

Autonomous private high schools are viewed as one of the best routes to enter prestigious universities. However, there are arguments that these schools have distorted the whole education system by bringing a competitive and ranking-focused system over the last ten years. In 2017, 29 out of 44 schools ignored the advice of the Ministry of Education for keeping the KSAT-focused subjects such as Korean, English, and mathematics below 50% of the entire curriculum.

Schools and parents are pushing back against this move, therefore it remains to be seen whether abolishing of the autonomous school status license will actually occur.  Abolishing of elite schools may have side effects. Fewer options could in fact overheat competition and intensify private education even more than before. In response to concerns around this, we suggest UK universities to promote the balanced studying environment in the U.K.

Sources:

Seun-woo. K. (2019, June 25) ‘Gov't moving to abolish elite school system: education minister’ 

Seun-woo. K. (2019, July 9) Eight elite high schools on brink of losing licenses 

Yeonju. K. & Soyeon. Y. (2019. 19 June) 한국대학 졸업생 평판 추락… 30개大 중 28곳 순위 떨어져