Anchor: South Korea is considering transforming elite autonomous high schools into general institutions in 2025. The proposal is designed to minimize disruptions at such schools and to be more effective than a previous phaseout plan.
Celina Yoon has more.

Report: The presidential office, government officials and ruling Democratic Party(DP) are discussing plans to transform autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools and international high schools into general institutions in 2025.

A DP official said on Monday that the plan was presented by the Education Ministry at a closed-door meeting at the National Assembly last month.

A previous plan, which sought to transition autonomous private high schools to regular schools through performance assessments, was de facto nullified as the schools took legal action.

Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae told reporters last month that the ministry is now considering an all-at-once transformation rather than a gradual phaseout.

The ministry expects the longer time horizon of more than five years will minimize conflicts with elite high school enrollees and their families.

Elite schools that buy into the program will be provided with subsidies and will also be allowed to adopt a specialized curriculum. 

To meet the demand for elite education in lieu of elite high schools, the ministry plans to strengthen tailored program options for students at regular schools.

Scrapping autonomous schools has been a top education policy priority for the Moon Jae-in administration, which is concerned the schools reinforce elitism and entrench inequality.
Celina Yoon, KBS World Radio News.