Girls' high schools seek co-educational switch as enrollment slips

Several girls' high schools in Seoul are moving to become co-educational despite opposition from alumni, as falling enrollment makes it harder to operate under new education policies.

Alumni of Muhak Girls' High School in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, is at the forefront of the latest movement; alumni say no to opening up the school to boys, but the school says it has no choice.

School officials argue that the introduction of the high school credit system and the five-tier grading system has made it harder for schools with fewer students to survive.

Enrollment has been falling much faster at smaller girls' high schools in Seoul, according to government data released on Tuesday.

The findings were based on a survey of 58 girls' high schools in Seoul, including specialized, autonomous and general high schools, using enrollment data from the Education Ministry's School Info website.

The five girls' high schools with more than 1,000 students recorded an average enrollment decline of 1.8 percent. By comparison, the 12 schools with fewer than 500 students saw enrollment drop by an average of 15.7 percent.

Sangmyung University Girls' High School, Muhak Girls' High School, Myung Duk Girls' High School and Duksung Girls' High School recorded the biggest decline over recent three years. All four are in northern Seoul, and all but Myungduk have fewer than 500 students.

Schools with the large enrollment gains included Changduk Girls' High School, Sangil Girls' High School, Jamsil Girls' High School and Sehwa Girls' High School. Most are either located in southern Seoul or have more than 800 students. Changduk Girls' High School, despite its relatively small size, appears to have benefited from families moving into nearby redeveloped apartment complexes.

The same pattern is emerging nationwide.

According to a report from cram school franchise Jongro Academy, the proportion of first-year students attending girls' high schools with 100 or fewer students fell from 45.1 percent last year to 39.5 percent this year. In contrast, the share attending schools with 300 or more first-year students rose from 11.2 percent to 17.3 percent.

So far, private single-sex schools have traditionally resisted becoming co-educational, citing their history and tradition. However the introduction of high school credit system and the new grading system have made that position increasingly difficult to maintain status quo.

Six schools in Seoul applied to become coeducational this year: Muhak Girls' High School, Songgok High School, Hwikyung Girls' High School, SacredHeart Girls' High School, Hanyang Science and Technology High School and Seoul Shinjeong High School. All except Muhak are private schools.

Declining enrollment directly affects the management of the education curriculum.

"When the number of classes falls, the number of teachers also falls," an academic affairs director at one girls' high school in Seoul said. "That makes it difficult to operate the high school credit system, which requires schools to offer a wide range of elective courses."

At the academic affairs director's own school, the number of classes fell from 27 in 2024 to 22 this year. During the same period, the number of teachers also fell from 62 to 52.

"This is no longer about whether a school is for boys or girls," said Lim Sung-ho, head of Jongro Academy. "Schools need enough students to reduce the risk of top-performing students receiving lower grades."

"Once enrollment drops sharply, rumors spread and applications fall even further," Lim said. "That creates a vicious circle."

BY KIM MIN-SANG [[email protected]]