By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter
Specialized high schools, such as foreign language and science high schools, will have their licenses revoked if they receive poor evaluations.
The government will set up special committees to supervise and appraise specialized schools in each city and province every five years, as part of restructuring education.
The government held a Cabinet meeting, presided over by President Lee Myung-bak, to pass a revised ordinance on elementary and secondary schools.
Not only those that perform poorly, but also schools that operate against their founding purposes will have their licenses cancelled, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.
So far, education superintendents of cities or provinces have had the right to issue or withdraw licenses to special schools.
Under the new rules the committees will decide whether to extend the licenses or not.
At the same time, these specialized schools will be banned from conducting written tests when recruiting students, starting from this year, a move to help reduce private education costs burdening parents.
They will screen applicants using school records, recommendation letters, interviews and on-the-spot performance tests for arts and physical education institutes.
The new rules will enable companies in state-designated “innovative” cities or free economy zones to secure a certain admission quota at autonomous schools for children of their employees, if they provide them with financial support.