The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Thursday it will strip an autonomous private high school ― a de facto elite school ― of its status after it failed to meet the evaluation requirements.

Top Seoul educator Cho Hi-yeon said at a news conference that Mirim Grils’ High School will become a regular high school from the 2016 school year, if the Education Ministry consents to the decision.

Autonomous private high schools refer to those given relative autonomy over the curriculum in exchange for less in government financial subsidies. To ensure that these schools’ operation do not go rogue, the government conducts an evaluation once every five years.

In May, the SMOE announced that four schools ― Mirim Girls’ High School, Kyungmoon High School, Sehwa Girls’ High School and Janghoon High School ― failed to acquire the minimum passing score of 60. They were subject to a public hearing, where they got a chance to challenge the results and provide specific plans to improve their shortcomings.

The other three schools were given a two-year extension after the evaluation.

Since the evaluation results were announced, Mirim has stressed that it did not wish to retain the elite school status. “Instead of participating in the hearing, it submitted a written opinion that it wishes to become a regular school,” said an SMOE official.

“Each year, student recruitment and other financial problems became obstacles for the operation of our school. These limits pushed us to decide that becoming a regular high school is our best option,” the school said last week in a message delivered to the parents of students.

While the autonomous private high schools are given leeway over operation, the lack of government subsidy is a challenge for some schools. The difficulty in recruitment is also fueled by their expensive tuition, which is at least three times the amount charged by regular high schools.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)