Two years into the full-scale rollout of Korea's high school credit system, small rural high schools are grappling with severe limitations on course choices and teacher shortages stemming from low student enrollment, raising concerns about a widening education gap.
Small high schools in North Gyeongsang (Gyeongbuk) and South Jeolla (Jeonnam) provinces in particular offer significantly fewer courses and employ far fewer teachers than regular high schools, deepening educational disparities for students in those regions.
According to a report titled "Does the High School Credit System Guarantee Educational Opportunities at Small High Schools?" released Sunday by the National Assembly Research Service, small high schools in Gyeongbuk and Jeonnam have weak foundational infrastructure for operating the credit system. The report defined "small high schools" as those with 100 or fewer students or six or fewer classes.
The analysis found that small high schools in Gyeongbuk had an average of 12 teachers, just one-third of the regional average of 40 teachers at regular high schools. In Jeonnam, small high schools averaged 9 teachers, fewer than the regional average of 33 at regular high schools.
The gap in course offerings was also stark. For second-year high school students, small high schools in Gyeongbuk offered an average of 20 courses, compared with 32 at regular high schools. In Jeonnam, the figures were 21 and 29, respectively. By contrast, regular high schools in Seoul offer an average of around 40 courses for second-year students.
The teacher shortage is also undermining the quality of education. The report noted frequent cases of so-called "out-of-field teachers" at small high schools, where regular faculty are forced to teach multiple subjects simultaneously or instruct subjects outside their field of expertise. Heavy reliance on itinerant teachers to fill gaps in course offerings has created a vicious cycle, leaving voids in student guidance and administrative functions. The proportion of small high schools using itinerant teachers reached 72.2% in Gyeongbuk and 58.8% in Jeonnam.
Joint curriculum programs and online schools also showed clear limitations. While 44.4% of small high schools in Gyeongbuk and 41.2% in Jeonnam relied on joint curriculum programs in partnership with outside schools, participation was often difficult due to distance and transportation issues. The expansion of online schools also fell short, as the additional workload from managing schedules and academic affairs outpaced the available support staff. Concerns were also raised that students at small schools could be disadvantaged in college admissions under the relative grading system used for internal school records.
"To ensure the successful implementation of the high school credit system, a legal basis for supporting small high schools must be established," the report said. "Through revisions to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, minimum required teacher standards and a support framework for small high schools should be codified, and the system should shift toward having education offices directly operate pools of instructors."
