South Korea's ruling bloc is reportedly discussing a plan to turn elite high schools into regular schools in 2025. 

According to the ruling Democratic Party on Monday, the presidential office, the government and the party discussed the matter in a September 18 meeting at the National Assembly.

During the meeting, the Education Ministry reportedly briefed its plan to turn autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools and international high schools into regular schools starting in March 2025.

At present, such elite institutions exercise relatively high control over admissions and curriculum, while the government controls such decisions at regular schools.

The ministry’s proposed 2025 timeline is in line with a new nationwide high school education system set to be introduced that year.

From next year, the ministry said that instead of conducting performance assessments of the elite institutions in question, it will encourage a voluntary transition to regular schools by increasing subsidies and allowing elite schools to keep their names. 

The ministry said it will also allow the schools to continue specialized education programs after the transition.