[Opinion] Vocational High Schools

The issue of vocational high schools has become a disputed subject between the ruling party and the opposition party.

Last week, the Uri Party leadership ordered its legislators to submit a report on vocational high schools. Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young then asked Uri Party legislators to visit vocational high schools to help fight the wealth gap, saying, “There are 500,000 vocational high school students and one million parents whose children are attending the schools. By helping dissolve their pent-up feelings that they are from poor families and that they are poor performers academically, you help dissolve the pent-up feelings of lower-income families.”

The opposition party said Chung Dong-young disparaged vocational high school students when he referred to them as “academically poor performers.” It also mentioned that Chung’s son is studying in America.

That the ruling party has shown little interest in vocational high schools so far is confirmed by the inadequate “reality check” that it has done. Unlike in the past, the popularity of vocational high schools is high these days. Applicants for vocational high schools in Seoul have increased for two straight years: the ratio of successful applicants to total applicants stood at 1:1.07 last year and 1:1.15 this year. Vocational high schools are getting popular among students because it is easier to get good school records there than in academic high schools. Specialized high schools which have been converted from vocational high schools are also popular with students. To be admitted into a specialized school this year, an applicant had to rank in the top 30 percent of his or her class.

It is anachronistic and parochial to classify high school students as “academically good performers” and “academically poor performers” in this era when various talents are needed. Sudden visits to vocational high schools ordered by the ruling party leadership are likely to be received as unwelcome favors by those who are concerned. Moreover, the visits are likely to end up as no more than photo opportunities. When that happens, the “pent-up feelings” of lower-income families will only grow.

If there is a thing that politicians should do in order to dissolve the educational wealth gap, it is to step back and lend indirect assistance. In this year’s Seoul National University entrance examination, students from Kyungil Girls’ High School performed the best among girls’ high schools around the country. The school admitted middle school students who are from poor families and whose school records are not good, and taught them well, eventually opening the doors to universities for them. The wealth gap issue can be dissolved if politicians provide the institutional and financial backing for more schools like Kyungil Girls’ High School. When it comes to education, which the future of our nation depends upon, political calculations are like poison wrapped inside of something sweet.

Hong Chan-sik, Editorial Writer, chansik@donga.com