43,854 students went through a deliberation period in 2015, 86.5 percent (37,935) of whom ultimately chose to remain in school, proving the system’s effectiveness. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The Ministry of Education announced Tuesday that it would expand its deliberation policy for students to better prevent young scholars from making an impulsive decision to drop out of school.
In a nutshell, the system is similar to the legal delay process for couples seeking divorce, which has helped to bring down the divorce rate.
The deliberation period for drop-out students was first introduced in June 2012 for all elementary, middle, and high schools across the country, providing counselling sessions and education programs for a set period of time, until the student can make a final decision.
According to official data, 43,854 students went through a deliberation period in 2015, 86.5 percent (37,935) of whom ultimately chose to remain in school, proving the system’s effectiveness.
However, the percentage tends to differ greatly between cities and provinces, ranging from 56 percent to 93 percent, due to ambiguous guidelines that fail to specify which students should be subject to the policy.
In accordance with the revision, students in truancy (for seven consecutive days), those hoping to take Geomjeong-gosi (equivalent of the GED), or absent for at least 30 days in a given school year will also obliged to go through a deliberation period, allowing school officials to more actively intervene and provide academic guidance to the affected youth.
The deliberation period, which was being offered for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 50 days, was slightly altered to a period of one to seven weeks, taking into account the large number of students deciding to return to school after only a week of thought, as pointed out by the ministry.
“We expect the revision to allow a more efficient operation of the system, and better help endangered students to adopt to the school environment,” said a ministry official.
The graduation rates for Korea’s elementary, middle, and high schools stand at 98.5 percent, 96.3 percent, and 93.5 percent, respectively (2015).
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
