The Ministry of Education has announced it will expand affirmative action for students who are North Korean defectors.
 
Under the plan introduced on Thursday, vocational high schools will be given the option of holding a special admissions test for student defectors from next year's high school entrance exam.
 
The education ministry also plans to provide mentoring programs to two-hundred additional North Korean students and increase the number of textbooks designed specifically for student defectors from 12 this year to 32 next year.
 
The number of North Korean dropouts is decreasing, but it is still higher than that of regular students. Last year, the rate was two-point-five percent for defector students compared with zero-point-93 percent for regular students.