Korea

In November 2020, the ‘High School Credit System workbook’ was released to 3rd year middle school students in Seoul who will enter high school soon. This workbook introduces information on features of the newly adopted high school system and guides for students to select subjects for designing curriculum [1]. The High School Credit System for public schools is quite new to Korea. Unlike the current standardized education system in which most classes are mandatory and students can graduate when the number of attendance days is over the standard, students can choose the courses, pass the courses when they meet the achievement level, and graduate when cumulative credits reach the standard. The aim of the system is cultivating self-directed students and it is expected that students will be motivated and interested in classes that are related to their career path and teach what they want to learn [2]. It provides career counseling and career-related study plans that help students to develop a personal timetable. The Moon Jae-in administration started planning the high school credit system in 2017, and the pilot operation began in 2020 at Meister High Schools where the absolute evaluation was partially implemented. It will be introduced nationwide in 2025.

This student-oriented system sounds like an ideal solution for the current education system which has a lack of support for individual student’s interests and career development. When choosing classes, students are required to write down a career and study plan which makes students deeply consider a career path in advance. However, there are challenges to be handled for the high school credit system to reach its goal. First, with the current career education, choosing subjects could become an additional burden. As a result of a survey of pilot schools in 2020, less than 17% of respondents said it was easy to select subjects. The top reasons this feels difficult were ‘the lack of relevant information and guidance’ (28.2%), ‘still not know own aptitude/not decided on a career path’ (22.5%), and ‘Course selection is complex and difficult to understand’ (16.5%). The survey showsed that the first thing students wanted was ‘reinforcement of personal career counseling’ [3]. Because the list of the subjects should be submitted in April of the 1st year of high school, a career counseling infrastructure in middle school might be necessary [4].

Second, a new evaluation system needs to be established. The high school credit system uses absolute grading and students can earn credits by meeting a certain level. This grading system reminds some Koreans of the score inflation in the early 2000s [5]. Since many parents, students, and teachers in Korea place high importance on the college entrance exam, the new system can be abused as a means of obtaining good grades. Besides, if the evaluation is different depending on the subject or teacher, there will be a disadvantage or advantage among the courses, which will be contrary to the aim of the students’ autonomous subject selection. Currently, the system for F grade is not established yet, so that students who do not achieve the standard must complete supplementary classes to pass the course [6]. For fair evaluation, the system must fully consider those challenges. A school monitoring system and connection with the college entrance examination will be required.

Third, there are concerns about the limitations of the infrastructure. To reach the aim of the system, students should freely choose the courses, but in local and rural areas where teachers and space are limited, there might be fewer opportunities compared to cities. The physical distances between schools will not allow students to move from one school to another within a short break time. Ministry of Education intends to solve this with online classes [2]. Although the digital competence of teachers was a challenge, during COVID-19, the online teaching capacity of schools and teachers has been strengthened.  The use of online learning tools is becoming more common and this could make it easier for the high school credit system to be adopted nationally [7].

In addition to the above, there are still some points to be considered for the proper implementation of the system. In a school of fewer teachers, if the number of subjects per teacher increases due in order to make more options for students, a subject might handle only a few features within a small number of classes [8]. Providing many options might show look good on teacher and school performance indicators, however, it might not result in meaningful preparation for a career path. Also, in terms of operation, one student in the pilot school complained that there is no place to go between classes so she was standing in the corridor [9]. There will be similar challenges to be dealt with when running the system in the field.

It may be an appropriate time to adopt the high school credit system because digital competence has been strengthened and self-directed individuals are needed in a rapidly changing society. Remaining concerns, however, as discussed above, issues still remain to be solved in order to implement the system as it was intended. Furthermore, changes in the overall system, including the middle school and college entrance examinations, are also recommended. If the system overcomes such challenges, this credit system will make a meaningful change in Korea for students’ career development.