Students attend a class at a cram school in Mapo Ward, Seoul, on Oct. 12, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent survey showed that among high school students in Seoul, only 3 out of 100 high ranking students came from low-income families.
According to a report from the Seoul Education Research and Information Institute, the share of those with academic resilience among the high school students in Seoul stood at 3.53 percent in 2016.
Students with academic resilience refers to those who rank in the top 25 percent in light of academic achievements, while their families rank in the bottom 25 percent in terms of monthly income.
The share of the students with academic resilience among first-year high school students fell slightly to 3.53 percent in 2016 after rising from 1.92 percent in 2010 to 3.75 percent in 2014.
The share of such students was particularly low in the subjects that are influenced heavily by private education.
By subject, the proportion of students with academic resilience stood at 4.94 percent for Korean language, 4.24 percent for math and 3.69 percent for English.
For subjects like English, the gap in private education, such as studying abroad at an early age and English kindergartens, is influenced heavily by the difference in socio-economic backgrounds.
Accordingly, it’s more difficult for students of low-income families to join the academic resilience group compared to other subjects.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
