Elite Education for Top Five Percent of Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

By 2010, elite education will be provided for five percent of all students, or 400,000 students, from elementary, middle, and high schools.

Elite education means providing gifted students with the opportunity to take advanced classes according to the student’s level.

Under the education policy, the classes by aptitude level will be provided to 50 percent of all elementary, middle, and high schools by 2007.

Also, education programs with measures such as earlier graduation or advancement of grade level will be implemented, allowing bright students to jump a grade and underprivileged children with ability to join special education programs.

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development on Wednesday announced such plan in the “Elite Education Comprehensive Measures” report.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is planning to expand the elite education, providing it to 80,000 students or one percent of all elementary, middle, and high school students (800 million students), by 2010 through specialized education institutions such as specialized schools, schools for gifted students, and classes for gifted students.

Currently, the number of beneficiaries of elite education stands at 25,000 or 0.3 percent of all students from elementary to high school.

Also, the “Advanced Placement System,” which will allow credits gained by high school students to be used as college credits, classes by aptitude level, and intensive courses will be exercised, targeting 320,000 students or four percent of all students.

The Education Ministry has decided to establish one more art and information specialized school in 2010, diversifying subjects taught from math and science to various subjects such as art, athletics, and language.

Currently, the science elite school is only conducted at Busan Science High School. Specialized institutions for gifted students will increase from 192 to 250.

Classes by aptitude level will be increased from the current 30 percent up to 50 percent of all middle and high schools by 2007. Also, the “Tracking System”’ will be introduced in which students choose Math and English courses to suit their aptitudes by 2007, after a pilot project in 2006.

For the policies to be implemented, the Education Minister decided to increase the number of professional teachers of elite education from the current 5,000 to 11,000 by 2010 and to provide an education program and a control manual by imputing a 208.7 billion won cost budget.

Seong-Chul Hong sungchul@donga.com