Taking Subjects Not Offered at School Through 'Online School'... Pilot Operation Starting Next Year

Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Gyeongnam 4 Education Offices Selected
Operated as Public Various Schools with Credit Recognition
Full-time Teachers Work Full-time and Rotationally, External Instructors Used When Needed

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Ahead of the implementation of the high school credit system, an 'Online School' will be established to allow students to take necessary courses online that are not offered at their schools.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Education announced that it has selected four education offices in Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, and Gyeongnam to pilot operate public online schools starting next year. These education offices will prepare for the establishment of the schools and operate the curriculum from 2023.

An online school refers to a school equipped with classrooms and teachers that provides part-time classes without having enrolled students. It supports courses that are difficult to offer at individual schools, such as small enrollment subjects or courses in new industries and new technologies, as well as courses at small rural schools.

The online school will be operated as a public miscellaneous school where credits are recognized. Student registration management and graduation credit recognition will be handled by the school the student is enrolled in. Real-time interactive remote classes, offline classes, and blended on/offline classes will be conducted for high school students within the jurisdiction. Evaluation of courses completed at the online school will be conducted by the online school.

If a student’s school does not offer a desired course, the student can take the course at the online school with the approval of the school principal. The principal will decide whether to approve the course completion based on whether the student meets the course requirements. If there are courses difficult to offer at individual high schools, it is also possible to request the online school to open those courses.

Regular teachers will be assigned to the online school, and full-time or part-time teachers will rotate duties. For subjects where it is difficult to secure teachers, such as rare fields or new industry and new technology courses, external instructors will be utilized. Basic school spaces such as classrooms, teachers’ offices, and administrative offices will be prepared by utilizing idle spaces such as closed schools in the region, and lecture rooms equipped with infrastructure for smooth remote classes and digital-based class operation will be established.

Four schools will be piloted starting next year. A total of 6 billion KRW in special grants will be provided as a budget, with 1.5 billion KRW per school. The Ministry of Education plans to promote budget support and revise related guidelines.

Oh Seung-geol, Director of the School Innovation Support Office at the Ministry of Education, said, "We will actively promote this together with the metropolitan and provincial education offices so that online schools can settle as an open education system that leads future talent development and flexibly responds to regional educational demands."