More students are dropping out for a hopefully better future

Teenagers who dropped out of high school study for the qualifying exam for high school graduation at a teen support center in Seongbuk District, central Seoul. [SEONGBUK DISTRICT OFFICE]

The number of students dropping out of high school to focus on the college entrance exam, in hopes of getting into better universities, is on the rise.

They study solely for the national College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) to try the regular admission in order to increase their chance of getting accepted to a higher ranked university.

Kim Ju-hyung, 18, dropped out of high school in October. Now he starts his day with an online lecture to help him pass the qualification exam for high school graduation at 10 a.m. every day. After spending the afternoon studying, he focuses on playing the guitar in the evening, as he plans to pursue guitar as his major in college. He said his mediocre grades at school pushed him to quit, after only a little over a year at high school.

Students who drop out of high school still need to pass the qualification exam for high school graduation, similar to a GED, to prove the equivalent of a high school diploma. But even though they have to study for this test and the CSAT, many students find not having to go to classes more time efficient.

“If I’m not going to be at the top of the class, I don’t need to bother studying for school classes,” Kim reasoned. “I’ve decided that it would be better to just get a higher score in the qualifying exam for high school graduation and use that to apply for colleges.

“I’m satisfied because I don’t have to study subjects that don’t relate to the field I want to study in college,” he said, adding that if he was still in high school, he would be busy taking classes until 4:30 p.m. every weekday and preparing for other tests.

According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, 14,140 high school students dropped out during the 2020 school year, from March 2020 to February 2021. About 63 percent, or 8,903 students, chose “Others” for their reason for leaving. “Others” usually include preparing for the high school graduation qualifying exam and for college admissions. The number has grown from 22.7 percent in 2013, 36.3 percent in 2014, and 50.3 percent in 2018. Other choices included trouble adjusting to school life, illness, going abroad and having to help at home.

Accordingly, the percentage of CSAT takers that are not attending high school continues to rise. About 2.8 percent of the nation's 509,821 test takers for the 2022 CSAT in November were not currently attending high school, up from 1.87 percent in 2018. The number was the highest since 1996.

“We get more inquires on how to prepare for the CSAT test if students leave school,” said Im Seong-ho, president of Jongno Hagwon, a chain of cram schools that helps students prepare for the CSAT. “Before, students dropping out of school of their own free will were considered outliers, but now it is just one of many options they have.”

The decision to leave school is becoming more widely considered as major universities have decided to accept more students through so-called regular admissions, which is heavily based on the score students get from the CSAT.

This compares to the "early admissions," which are based on school grades and essays.

While the number of new freshmen to be admitted at 198 four-year colleges across Korea was is 346,553 in total, down 894 from the last year according to the Korean Council for University Education, the number allotted to recruits for regular admissions went up by 4,102 to 84,175. Korea University, Yonsei University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Kyung Hee University are a few of the universities that decided to take more students through the regular admission, following the adjusted strategy from the Ministry of Education.

One of the changes the ministry now requires is that universities recruit more than 30 percent of their total students through regular admissions. Sixteen schools that originally chose 45 percent of their new students based on early admissions were told to choose at least 40 percent of its new students based on their CSAT scores by 2023. Eleven have already decided to do so from this year.

“Students are deciding to focus only on the CSAT to get into their desired university because that has become one of the ways to go to college now,” said Prof. Park Nam-gi of Gwangju National University of Education’s department of education. “If the percentage of students chosen based on CSAT scores was lowered, high school students would have stayed in school no matter what.”

Online classes, which became more widespread during the pandemic, also inspired many students to consider leaving school. They often found themselves distracted during these online classes.

“Because the teachers also have to pay attention to students who don’t show their face on the screen or are falling asleep, it is difficult to focus,” said 18-year-old Kim, who is considering quitting high school. “It might be better for me to really cram in a bunch of studying for a year and go to college [a year early].”

An official at Etoos, an online private tutoring company, said inquires to join their programs from students quitting school almost tripled after the onset of the pandemic.

To help students be more satisfied with the quality of their education, some say that teachers should be exempt from helping sanitize the school and other pandemic-related measures so that they can focus more on teaching.

“Schools are open again because of the idea that no one should be left behind at home, but teachers weren't put in an environment where they can focus more on teaching students,” said Jo Seong-cheol, spokesperson of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association.

While many quit school with the aim of getting better CSAT scores and entering a better college, some others drop out to follow their own career path. Lee Da-eun, 18, quit high school in October and is preparing to get a baking certificate while also studying for the high school graduation qualifying exam.

“I thought planning out on my own what I want to study might be more helpful for me than spending time at school,” said Lee. “I [daily] study four to five hours through online lectures for the qualifying exam and one hour for the baking certificate's written test.”

Yun Ji-min, 19, who quit high school due to her bipolar disorder, says her condition has since improved and she is now preparing to become a nurse aide.

But dropping out of high school may not be the answer for everyone. Jang, who was admitted to one of the major private universities in Seoul after dropping out of high school in the second year, recommends that others think carefully about their decision. Choosing to quit school as an alternative is dangerous, as some struggle with just being lazy or receiving scores that are not as high as they expected.

“I thought everything would go smoothly as I went all-in for just one goal, but that actually made it a bigger pressure for me because there was no other way to go if I failed in the regular admission,” said Jang. “Use a vacation to see whether you can study well on your own without school, and set up a very clear goal and plan.”

Experts also point out that students who quit school may lose out on a chance to foster their social skills, no matter how big a life-changing turn they can make with a potentially better chance to graduate from a prestigious university.

“[Quitting high school for a chance at a better university] might be a rational decision in a country where you know the importance of a diploma from a prestigious university and where you can turn your life upside down with one CSAT score, yet you will lose a chance to learn how to reconcile with friends after fights and how to cooperate with one another,” said Prof. Bae Sang-hoon of Sung Kyun Kwan University’s department of education.

“You need to continue looking for chances to interact with others by partaking in a variety of social activities through teens support centers or others.”

Those who don’t attend school can receive help from the designated teen support center in each of Seoul's districts. The center’s specialists provide consultation, educational programs, job training or similar-interest group activities, depending on each student's needs. Students can also apply to some colleges through the activities done at these centers.

“We keep a record of the teens’ extracurricular activities, just like school teachers keep records of students,” said Lee Eun-seon, head of a teen support center in Seongbuk District, central Seoul. “[Last year,] one student got accepted in a four-year college in Seoul with their activities done at the center.”

BY YUN HYE-IN [kjdnational@joongang.co.kr]

korea joongAng daily

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More students are dropping out for a hopefully better future

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