Students confused about 'elite' schools

By Kim Rahn

A conflict between the Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) over how to handle “elite” high schools is deepening, throwing many parents and students into confusion.

They are not sure whether they should apply to these schools or not. The SMOE, headed by liberal Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, is pushing to deprive six of 25 “autonomous” high schools in Seoul of their licenses and turn them into ordinary schools in 2016, citing flaws in their admission procedures and “improper curricula.”

Autonomous schools, introduced under former President Lee Myung-bak, are given more freedom when selecting students and setting up curricula. The competition to enter these schools has become fierce, triggering criticism from some educators that they are jeopardizing public education.

The ministry rejected the SMOE plan Tuesday, prompting the office to vow a legal battle to nullify the ministry’s decision.

The office’s plan to reduce the number of the elite schools reflects Cho’s policy of narrowing the educational gap between students.

The ministry, however, said the license cancellations were an abuse of power by Cho, and the office did not sufficiently discuss the issue with it.

The ministry earlier issued a corrective order for the office to cancel the decision by Nov. 17, but as the office did not do so, it nullified the decision on its own authority.

In response, the SMOE said it would file a suit with the Supreme Court to annul the ministry’s decision.

Although the six schools will maintain their status until the court issues a ruling, the row is confusing students as they have no idea whether the schools will keep the status and when the issue will be settled.

Students entering those schools next year will have the elite curricula regardless of the court decision, because the SMOE’s license cancellation will take effect in 2016 if it is upheld. But if the court confirms the cancellation, the schools will be changed into ordinary schools, and then students receiving elite curricula for high tuition fees and those receiving ordinary curricula with lower fees may coexist in one school.

While the application for elite schools in Seoul started Wednesday through Friday, many are holding off on their applications.

“My son planned to apply for one of the schools. But the school can be changed into an ordinary school when he is a second- or third-grader. The uncertainty makes it difficult for him to decide whether to apply or not,” the mother of a middle-school students said on a portal site.

Kim Yong-bok, head of an association of elite high school principals, said some parents of students at elite schools are concerned about fairness between students.

“Current students have elite curricula and high-quality teachers at high-quality facilities for high tuition. But if the schools become ordinary ones, new students under ordinary curricula will use the same facility and be taught by the same teachers for about one-third of the former’s tuition,” he said.

Another mother of a middle-school girl said, “The SMOE says it will close elite schools and the ministry says it will not, so I don’t know who’s right. Both of them are educational authorities for us, and it’s pathetic that they fight with each other.”