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Korean secondary schools go coed to survive as student enrollments nosedive

Published: 12 Feb. 2025, 15:53 Updated: 12 Feb. 2025, 18:41

LEE SOO-JUNG
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High school students take a mock college entrance exam at their coed school in Seoul in October last year. [NEWS1]

Plummeting student numbers are driving Korean single-sex schools to switch to coeducational institutions to survive.

Dongguk University's girl’s high school in eastern Seoul is gearing up to welcome its first male students in spring. The high school is transitioning to a coed facility with a new name, “Garam High School." It will still be managed by the university.

On Feb. 3, 97 male students visited the school to register as incoming students. They also looked at their brand-new school uniform.

The school had a busier winter break than usual. It had to install urinals, locker rooms for boys and additional exercise equipment. “The school is preparing to replace the sand on its athletic field with artificial grass for male students who like playing football,” school principal Min Bo-kyung said.

The transition came as the number of pupils has decreased over the years. Two decades ago, the school used to educate nearly 1,000 students. Now, less than 700 students attend the school. The shrinking student population caused problems in arranging classes and hiring teachers.

“Converting the school into a coed facility was not a choice. It was survival,” Min said.

“Although more than half our students, their parents and alumni opposed the transition at first, I persuaded them that a century of history can continue only when there are students,” Min said.

Incoming boy students take a look at their new school uniforms at a high school run by Dongguk University. The school is set to transition from girls-only to coed starting from the spring semester. [GARAM HIGH SCHOOL]

The shift to coed schools has become popular among schools facing shrinking enrollment. Schools that insist on remaining single-sex risk admission shortfalls.

In 2020, six single-sex schools went coed, according to the Ministry of Education on Sunday.

In 2021, 12 schools underwent such a transition, with another 20 or more schools doing so each year between 2022 and last year. This year, some 32 schools are expected to make the switch.

Kwangwoon Middle School in northern Seoul’s Nowon District, currently an all-boys institution, is pushing to admit girls in 2027. Last year, the school admitted 115 students. The number fell short of the district average of 166 students.

“The school has decided to become coed with a timely facility renovation underway,” a Kwangwoon Middle School spokesperson said. “We plan to submit an official application for the switch to the education office next year.”

An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said that boys-only and girls-only institutions "could intensify gender imbalances in nearby coed schools” by depleting nearby male or female student populations.

Three coed high schools adjacent to Dongguk University’s girls-only high school had an uneven mix of male and female students, with 150 more boys than girls at each institution.

With classroom gender imbalances worsening, education offices appear to welcome and even encourage schools to open their doors to students of all genders.

The Seoul education office offers a 600-million-won (about $410,000) subsidy over three years to schools that go coed. The Gyeongsangnamdo Office of Education in South Jeolla gives 300 million won to schools making the transition.

In Korea, single-sex education was the norm six decades ago. In 1964, 506 of 692 high schools nationwide, or 73.1 percent, were boys-only. The remaining 186, or 26.9 percent, were girls-only.

However, the adoption in 1974 of a new admission system that prioritized students’ residential addresses boosted the number of coeducational high schools. Soon after, 341 of 1,089 high schools nationwide, or 31.3 percent, were coed. The decline in the school-age population due to the plummeting birthrate since the 2000s has prompted even more schools to go coed.

Last year, only 19.9 percent of middle schools and 33.7 percent of high schools were single-sex.

“Korean schools have switched to coed in line with their need to enroll the proper number of students,” said Prof. Kim Yong from Korea National University of Education.

Yet, the transformation can face setbacks as it requires agreement among students and their parents.

Two years ago, one girls-only middle school in Gangwon attempted to become coed. However, its drive was thwarted by opposition from alums and parents, according to the school.

A locker room for girls at Jangchung High School, which turned from an all-boys institution to coed two years ago, in central Seoul [KIM JONG-HO]

The transition isn't cheap, either.

Schools should also improve facilities, train faculty, revise academic codes and raise public awareness if they hope to draw previously unwelcome male or female students.

Jangchung High School in central Seoul, a former all-boys institution that became coed two years ago, spent two years building toilet spaces for female students.

“Building a single toilet stall cost around 60 million to 70 million won, and the school failed to make powder rooms as initially planned,” said Moon Moo-hyun, vice principal at Jangchung High School.

“The school also trained its teachers on instructing female students whose gender sensitivities — perceptions of gender-based social norms and discrimination — are different from that of male counterparts,” Moon said.

Despite the cost and extra labor, Moon said accepting female students positively changed his school. “Excessive swearing and naughty behavior by boy students have largely disappeared,” Moon added.

An official from the city education office also noted that the school saw an increase in admission applications after it went coed.

BY LEE HO-YEON, CHOI MIN-JI, LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]