A student passes by a private academy in Seoul that has a program to prepare for difficult questions in the college entrance exam. [Photo by Kim Ho-young]

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The standardized college entrance exam in South Korea may no longer include questions that are not dealt with inside the classrooms from this year after the government and the ruling People Power Party agreed Monday to drop difficult-to-solve problems from the exam.

The government and the ruling party shared concerns that setting difficult questions in the college entrance exam leads students and parents to rely more on private education.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has been eager to reduce reliance on private education for college entrance. He recently instructed the Education Ministry officials to focus on questions that derive from textbooks, noting that extremely difficult questions “are inappropriate and unfair” to many vulnerable students.

The Ministry of Education will announce measures to enhance the competitiveness of public education on Wednesday. It will also come up with measures next week on reducing private education.

Experts noted that excessive spending on private education not only impacts weak consumption but also contributes to the low birth rate.

“Private education has been rampant because students believe they need prestigious university labels to have good jobs,” said Cho Dong-chul, president of the Korea Development Institute. “Labor market flexibility is the most fundamental solution to reducing dependence on private education.”

There are concerns, however, that the changes in the exam may cause confusion among students, especially at a time when only five months remain until the standardized exam.

The government and the ruling party also agreed during the meeting to maintain autonomous private high schools, foreign language high schools, and international high schools.

The schools were previously scheduled to close from 2025 but they will be maintained in a move to broaden educational opportunity and provide tailored education to students.