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‘I feel the restriction will bring about regional disparity among foreign language high schools.’
August 22, 2009
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“It’s been six years since I dreamed of entering Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, and I’ve been studying for almost two years to get in,” she said. But the regional restriction conferred in November 2008 upset her hopes. “I could do nothing. Really, it was out of my control,” Kim added. The Foreign Language High School Regional Restriction, effective as of this year, has spawned more victims, like Kim, than previously expected, confusing the overall circumstance of foreign language high school admissions. According to the Enforcement Ordinance amended in March 2009, a middle school student who enters high school in 2010 will only be able to apply for foreign language high schools in the same province or metropolitan city as his or her middle school. For example, a student living in Gyeonggi cannot apply for Taegu Foreign Language High School. A student residing on Jeju Island can only go to Jeju Foreign Language High School. Ever since the restriction was made official in March, Kim has had problems focusing on her studies. She stopped learning things that she had been doing for months, and she felt herself experiencing a kind shock. The aftermath of the policy gradually became visible in July and August when students decide on their target schools. Due to the new regulations, some of the students decided either to change the direction of their education plans or move to other cities where it is easier for them to apply for their dream schools, thus getting on with their lives. The case of Kim Se-yeon belongs to the latter category: Moving to a new location for her education was a unique breakthrough for her. “At first, I was thinking Seongnam Foreign Language High School for my high school. But after the policy started to operate, I knew that I could do nothing but abandon Seongnam,” said Kim, 16, a student at Dunsan Middle School in Daejeon. She then set Chungnam Foreign Language High School as an alternative target, planning to move to Chung-nam in the upcoming semester. “It was a dark time when I heard about the settlement of the regional restriction. “Now I feel that this restriction will only bring about regional disparity among foreign language high schools, which will reflect the level of students in their own area,” said Kim. The problem is felt nationwide. According to a survey carried out by Naver’s Yeolgong Net, a widely used Web site among students all over Korea, nearly 40 percent of the surveyed students were harmed, or negatively influenced by the regional restriction, claiming that they are the victims. According to Article 81 of Elementary and Secondary Education Law, students should apply for schools that are located in the area where their middle schools are. So the Regional Restriction is a revision to the law, since almost every province or metropolitan city will be able to satisfy the students’ foreign language high school demands by 2010. “And absolutely, we would not want students to be in excessive competition anymore,” explained Lee Geun-pyo, an official from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, when discussing the object of the policy. Lee Hyo-jin, 16, a student at Gyochon Middle School, is one of the few students who has something positive to say about the new restriction in operation right now. “There will be more chances for students living in Gyeonggi, since we no longer have to compete with Seoul students,” she commented. But the negative opinions outweigh the good. “Fundamentally, foreign language high schools are meant to be a complementary measure to support regular high schools that are unable to meet the diverse needs of students willing to advance and fulfill their ambitions,” said Oh Sung-sam, a professor at Konkuk University. “Then shouldn’t the government create an environment that enables students to ‘fly’ faster and higher, not one which shuts them off with a ‘fence’ of standardized schools?” *This article was written with the assistance of JoongAng Daily staff reporter Lee Eun-joo By Han Jae-sam [ebusiness@joongang.co.kr] |
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