Policy to Ease School Grading Tiers Instead Increases Student Dropouts

Despite the government's policy to reduce the domestic academic record grading tiers from 9 to 5, students' burden of academic competition has not decreased, leading to the number of high school freshmen dropping out of school exceeding 10,000 for the first time last year. An analysis revealed that although the 5-tier system widened the range for Grade 1 from 4% to 10%, students find it difficult to perceive academic improvement due to the persistent perception of significant gaps between tiers.

Last year, approximately 18,000 students dropped out of general high schools nationwide, with 10,450 of them being first-year students subject to the 5-tier system. Variations by region were also observed, with elite high schools in areas of fierce academic competition seeing 20 freshmen drop out each, and one high school in Gyeonggi Province, a non-standardized admission area, having over 60 students discontinue their studies.

Some high school teachers analyzed that students are increasingly opting for the college entrance exam-focused regular admission track (Jeongsi) as they judge it difficult for new students to overcome the entry barriers, given the solid academic standing of top-tier students.