12,745 Students Accepted to General High Schools under the 2023 Gwangju Regional High School Equalization Policy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 10th that 12,745 students were admitted to the 2023 academic year high school equalization general high schools.

The Gwangju Office of Education announced this information on its website, the NEIS high school admission system, and the Office of Education Career and Academic Information Center website.

A total of 12,954 students applied for this equalization general high school admission, which is 1,282 more than last year. The Office of Education increased the admission quota to accommodate students' career aspirations for general high schools, maintaining the number of unsuccessful applicants at last year's level. As a result, the acceptance rate slightly eased to 93.056% compared to last year.

In 2007, the Year of the Golden Pig, the birth rate increased, and this year, the number of prospective first-year high school students, which had been decreasing annually, temporarily increased.

This is expected to naturally lead to an increase in the number of students per class. Although the Office of Education expanded classes by maximizing the use of available facilities in general high schools, it could not increase classes proportionally to the rising number of students due to issues such as the high school credit system and teacher supply.

Therefore, the average number of students per class for prospective first-year high school students increased from 25.1 in the 2022 academic year to 27.1 in the 2023 academic year.

This year, students are expected to select two schools for early application and 1 to 9 schools for late application, which is anticipated to cause difficulties in school assignments.

In particular, the increase in the number of prospective first-year high school students in Gwangsan-gu is the largest, resulting in Gwangsan-gu students being assigned to Buk-gu and Seo-gu areas. It is also expected that students from Buk-gu and Seo-gu will increasingly be assigned to Nam-gu and Dong-gu.

A similar situation is predicted for the announcement of prospective first-year high school equalization general high school assignments scheduled for the 20th.

Students will be assigned to the high schools they hoped for in early and late applications, but the rate of assignment to high schools close to their graduating middle schools is expected to decrease.

Kim Jong-geun, Director of the Education Bureau, said, “The announcement of the equalization general high school admission results reflects students' career aspirations and is the result of accommodating as many students as possible in general high schools.” He added, “The equalization general high school assignments will be conducted fairly and transparently through random computerized draws, and we will do our best to assign students to their desired schools.”