Four out of 10 high school students and three out of 10 middle school students said they want to give up on math.
Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Kang Kyung-suk and the education civic group World Without Worries About Private Education (Wwope) held a news conference at the National Assembly on the 27th and released the results of a survey with these findings.
The survey was conducted from Nov. 17 to Nov. 28 last year at a total of 150 schools: 60 elementary schools, 40 middle schools and 60 high schools nationwide. There were 6,650 respondents: 6,356 students and 294 teachers.
In the results, 30.8% of respondents answered yes to the question, "I want to give up on math." Specifically, the rates were 17.5% for 6th-grade elementary students, 32.9% for 9th-grade middle school students and 40% for 11th-grade high school students. It appears that as grade level rises, more students try to give up on math due to heavier study burdens and frustration.
On this, Wwope analyzed that the proportion of "math dropouts" is about two to three times higher than the proportion below the basic proficiency level in math in the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Achievement that the Ministry of Education released.
Students cited the "high difficulty of math problems (42.1%)" as the main reason for giving up on math. Teachers, by contrast, answered "accumulated learning loss (44.6%)."
Among teachers, 80.7% said the phenomenon of giving up on math is "very serious." As the top priority to prevent math dropouts, they chose "strengthening small-group, student-tailored classes (39%)," and also said system improvements are needed, such as "expanding basic proficiency diagnostic programs (23.3%)" and "easing the sorting function of college entrance exam and school grades (13.7%)."
More than half of students were found to be receiving private math lessons. A total of 64.7% of students receive private math education, and among them, 85.9% were found to have experienced prior learning.
More than 60% of elementary, middle and high school teachers said private education is necessary to understand school lessons. Seven out of 10 high school teachers said it is difficult to solve the college scholastic aptitude test (CSAT) "killer questions" (ultra-high-difficulty items) without private education.