What’s Up with Foreign Language High Schools?

written by 10203 Kim Dan Hee, 10618 Lee Seo Ahn

& 10827 Hwang Da In

Current Situation

Foreign language high schools (FLHS) are schools which implement special curriculums to intensively teach foreign languages, allowing students to receive more opportunities to learn. Including foreign language high schools, the abolishment of special purpose high schools has been a hot potato.

On July 29th, 2022 the Korean Ministry of Education determined to maintain autonomous private high schools, while abolishing foreign language high schools on the other hand.

However, as former minister of education Park Soon Ae resigned soon after, the determination has lost its navigation. The disappearance of foreign language high schools is likely to cause extreme change in the Korean education system.

Opinions on the Abolition of Foreign Language High Schools

According to the survey, students who were against the abolition responded said that FLHS gives opportunities to students who desire education in a foreign language. 

They also said that FLHS provides special education to better educate students based on their traits. These schools also foster talented students with good linguistic skills and the capability to work globally.

On the other hand, those who were for the abolition had concerns that the FLHS encourages severe education from middle school due to their entrance system since students get evaluated along with their grades from their previous school. 

They believe that FLHS is deepening the educational gap and creating an unequal society through its expensive tuition fee. Also they believe that the schools are losing their purpose since they are turning into an educational institution for prestigious universities.

Lastly, the neutral side displayed tepid attitudes toward the abolishment of foreign language high schools, expressing how it was out of their attention.

Our opinions:

Hwang Da In

I am against the abolition of foreign language high schools. 

The biggest reason is that I disagree with the saying “FLHS students do not go to foreign language departments in university,” which is being discussed as the basis for abolishing foreign language high schools. 

The purpose of establishing a FLHS is to cultivate human resources through language education. This means that students must improve their foreign language skills, but they do not have to go to foreign language courses. 

In Korean universities, there are many departments that can use foreign languages even though they are not foreign language-related departments. 

For example, graduates of these high schools who go to international departments are able to adapt to operating in foreign languages they are familiar with from attending FLHS. They are then able to increase their opportunities to demonstrate their abilities in the process of entering international-related jobs. 

It is true that many FLHS graduates do not go to foreign language departments now, but they are active in various fields by utilizing their foreign language skills. This shows that the purpose of establishing a foreign language high school is being implemented.

Lee Seo Ahn

Foreign language high schools provide valuable education. It’s not that I attend one that makes me say this, but there are good reasons to keep FLHS around. 

Good education is what should guide students to grow based on their unique traits. Traits could be about art, science and language.

It is nonsense to only abolish FLHS out of all specialized high schools.

If there is a problem with FLHS, the government should take a stance of changing the policies, just like they did with science high schools. 

Science high school’s problem was students using the school as a step toward the college of medicine, rather than to get specialized science education. The government took a stand of limiting science high school graduates from taking the medical course, but not abolishing the school itself.

I concede that there are problems with foreign language high schools, however, the solution is not abolishment but rather reform. 

The decision to eliminate FLHS, would deprive students of their chance to learn languages that they desire. This is unwise in a situation where the need for global talent is at peak demand. Global talent is a person with linguistic skills and a cosmopolitan cultural sense. 

Education for such is well provided through FLHS curriculum with not only language courses but also cultural experiences. Abolishing foreign language high schools is a tsunami that would take away too many opportunities.

Kim Dan Hee

Would students remember what was in their textbooks, or what they actually got to experience? 

MUN, international exchange programs, various school clubs and global citizenship education, which are a part of foreign language high school’s curriculums, facilitate them to know what it’s like to live in a global world. 

They open up opportunities for students to not only learn and experience foreign languages along with their cultures, but also guide them to know what’s actually happening in today’s society. Foreign language high schools thus foster global, competent human resources. 

As the world heads toward globalization day by day, the ability to depict foreign languages is becoming more essential, indicating that foreign language high schools are playing a big role in it. 

Also, it is undeniable that FLHS are not the only schools with problems related to corruption of entrance exams. These problems are not limited to FLHS, and the answer is also not limited to abolishing FLHS. 

Our focus should be centered on what types of adjustments can be made to ease it out, instead of implementing extreme actions. Therefore, I believe they should not be abolished.