On July 30, 1980, Chun Doo-hwan's new military regime announced education measures like a military operation, completely banning private tutoring and abolishing university entrance exams. It was at this point that the school grade evaluation system (a 10-tier scale) was first introduced into university admissions. The stated justification was the normalization of public education, but the reality was different. Having seized power through the Dec. 12 military coup, the regime faced a peak of public resistance, and the move was nothing more than a ploy to divert public sentiment elsewhere by promoting education equalization and similar policies. This is how the high school grade evaluation system began.
Since then, the high school grade evaluation system has swung back and forth like a pendulum with each change of government, as fickle as boiling porridge. In 1995, under the Kim Young-sam government, the "May 31 Education Reform" subdivided the system into 15 tiers and introduced the school records system. In 1999, under the Kim Dae-jung government, an absolute evaluation system of "Excellent, Good, Fair, Pass, Fail" and performance assessments were introduced. The intent was to reduce the competition of ranking students by grades, but the side effect that followed was grade inflation, with high schools nationwide handing out "Excellent" marks indiscriminately. As grades lost their ability to differentiate students, both universities and test-takers fell into confusion.
The Roh Moo-hyun government revised this again. Starting with first-year high school students in 2005, a 9-tier relative evaluation system was applied and first reflected in the 2008 university admissions. However, by granting a first-tier grade only to the top 4 percent, students were driven into competition to earn even 0.1 point more. The double and triple burden of also having to prepare for essay tests and performance assessments grew heavier. Under the Yoon Suk-yeol government, as the high school credit system was implemented, the grade evaluation system was changed once again to a 5-tier scale. When the threshold for a first-tier grade was lowered from the top 4 percent to 10 percent, concerns over worsening differentiation grew and became reality. According to Jongro Academy, the average score of the five main subjects for first-year high school students at general high schools nationwide under the 5-tier system jumped 3.5 points from the previous year, when the 9-tier system was in place. Grade inflation has returned once again.
Last year, the number of high school students who dropped out of school reached 18,498, the highest in seven years. Of these, 56.0 percent were said to be first-year students subject to the 5-tier system. This is because more students are choosing to drop out and stake everything on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) when their grades are unfavorable. It is a world where students must study for school grades and the CSAT separately. The constant back-and-forth changes to the system only deepen the confusion of test-takers. It makes one realize anew why education is described as a hundred-year plan.
