Seoul wins court fight over test score disclosure

South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld a Seoul city ordinance that allows the disclosure of basic academic assessment results for elementary, middle, and high school students. The ruling, which was issued on Wednesday, rejected a lawsuit filed by the Seoul education superintendent and sided with the city council.

While the Ministry of Education oversees basic academic standards, the court noted that local legislatures can adopt more detailed policies suited to regional conditions. It also ruled that the public release of results is consistent with higher-level laws. As a result, Seoul becomes the first among South Korea’s 17 cities and provinces authorized to disclose diagnostic test results.

These basic skills assessments are given at the beginning of each semester to students from first grade through the first year of high school. The results have typically been kept within schools and not shared with students or parents.

In 2023, as concerns over pandemic-related learning loss deepened, the Seoul Metropolitan Council passed an ordinance requiring the release of school-level results. It also stipulated that the education superintendent must provide support to students falling below basic proficiency. The superintendent filed suit, arguing that the measure would stoke excessive competition and create a hierarchy among schools.

The Supreme Court disagreed. It ruled that the ordinance “guarantees the right of Seoul citizens to know about public education, boosts engagement, and can help strengthen basic academic skills.”

Information about students’ academic levels by school is one of the most essential forms of data parents and students deserve to know. In countries such as the United States, Japan, and France, school-level academic achievement and college admissions results are made public to protect the public’s right to information and to promote constructive competition among schools.

It is astonishing that such an obvious right had to be affirmed by the Supreme Court. The Seoul education office argues that managing basic academic assessments is the exclusive responsibility of the Education Ministry and local education authorities, but wasn’t it the education authorities’ failure to act that forced the city council to intervene?

As the global race for science and technology intensifies, countries including the United States and China are dramatically expanding math and IT education at the primary and secondary levels. China is even phasing in mandatory AI education across all grades to cultivate a new generation of talent.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s education authorities have taken a back seat on future-oriented policy, choosing instead to reduce academic workload in the name of easing student pressure, while spending two years in a legal battle over whether schools can disclose basic academic results. How can the public trust such a system? Schools must teach responsibly and be evaluated transparently. That is the only way to restore faith in public education—and reaffirm the authority of teachers.