Parents protest decision to strip special school of elite status
Parents of students attending Seoul Foreign Language High School protest on Monday against the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s announcement that the institute will likely lose its status as a special-purpose high school after it failed a general assessment. The school will present its plan to fix problems at a hearing slated for this month. The protest will last until the hearing opens. [NEWSIS]
The parents of students who attend Seoul Foreign Language High School have been holding a protest since Monday against the education authority’s announcement that the institution could lose its position as a special-purpose high school.
Special-purpose high schools were established to educate students considered to have potential. Foreign language high schools, science high schools, sports schools and arts schools are classified under this category.
After conducting a general assessment on three special-purpose middle schools and 10 special-purpose high schools in Korea’s capital, the education office announced on April 2 that the school would be stripped of its elite status. It said that the school did not meet the requirements of the assessment.
Out of the 10 high schools, Seoul Foreign Language High School is the only one that might be demoted.
Parents participating in the demonstration said it does not make sense to downgrade the school, which has recorded the highest rate of college entrants in linguistics, liberal arts and social science majors among the six foreign language schools in Seoul over the last four years.
As other foreign language schools run classes for science majors and medical schools, they say it is unfair to strip the school of its status as it is located in northern Seoul, which has relatively poor educational facilities compared with the city’s southern region.
After holding a hearing this month, the Seoul education authority will determine whether to strip the school of its status or not. During the hearing, the school will present a plan to address the problems brought to light in the assessment.
The Education Ministry will make the final decision on whether to approve the withdrawal. According to a representative of the parents, the protest will last until the hearing starts.
BY SHIN JIN [nam.yoonseo@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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