The proportion of 'underachieving' students in 2nd year high school who did not understand even 20% of the mathematics curriculum from last year appears to have decreased compared to the previous year. In contrast, for the Korean language subject, the proportion of underachieving students has been continuously increasing for the past five years.
The Ministry of Education and Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) announced the results of the '2024 National Academic Achievement Assessment' containing this information on the 22nd.
This evaluation is conducted every year to analyze the current status and trends of students' academic achievement levels. A sample of approximately 3% of all 3rd-year middle school and 2nd-year high school students is extracted to assess academic achievement levels in Korean, mathematics, and English in four levels. Level 4 is for excellent achievement, Level 3 for average achievement, Level 2 for basic achievement, and Level 1 for those who underachieve. Those in Level 1 are referred to as 'math dropouts' and 'Korean language dropouts.'
According to the evaluation results announced that day, the proportion of underachieving students in mathematics among 2nd-year high school students is 12.6%, which is a 4 percentage point decrease compared to the previous year. This marks the first reduction in four years since 2020. However, the proportion has remained in double digits for four consecutive years.
The proportion of underachieving students in mathematics among 3rd-year middle school students also decreased to 13%, compared to the previous year (12.7%).
The Ministry of Education analyzed that the decrease in the proportion of underachieving students is attributed to the normalization of classes after the COVID-19 period. Additionally, the Ministry stated that it is the result of focusing on and guiding students with low academic achievement.
Moreover, the proportion of students with average achievement or higher in mathematics among 2nd-year high school students increased to 57.2%, compared to the previous year (55.9%). For 2nd-year middle school students, the proportion was 48.6%, a decrease from the previous year (49%).
In contrast, the proportion of underachieving students in the Korean language among 2nd-year high school students was reported to be 9.3%, which is an increase of 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous year (8.6%). This proportion remained at around 5% before the COVID-19 pandemic but has shown an increasing trend for five consecutive years since rising to 6.8% in 2020. The proportion of underachieving students in the Korean language among 3rd-year middle school students also increased to 10.1%, up 1 percentage point from the previous year.
The academic achievement gap by region is higher in middle schools than in high schools. Looking at the proportion of students with average achievement or higher in Korean among 3rd-year middle school students, urban areas stand at 71.9%, while rural areas are at 58.2%. For mathematics, urban areas are at 55.8% and rural areas at 37.3%, while for English, urban areas are at 68.9% and rural areas at 49.5%.
However, in 2nd-year high schools, there were no significant differences by region. The Ministry of Education noted that 'middle schools are compulsory education with evaluations conducted at the national level,' while 'high schools show no significant differences due to various types, such as autonomous high schools, specialized high schools, and general high schools.'
By gender, it was found that in both 3rd-year middle school and 2nd-year high school, female students had a higher proportion of 'average achievement or higher' in Korean and English compared to male students.
Kim Cheon-hong, director of education policy at the Ministry of Education, stated, 'This year, there were some achievements in significantly improving the academic levels in Korean for 3rd-year middle school students and in mathematics for 2nd-year high school students,' while also noting, 'We will work to improve teaching methods to enhance student interest and learning motivation.'