Despite the significant time that has passed since the full implementation of the high school credit system, criticism from teacher organizations surrounding it has not ceased. According to the arguments put forth by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) and the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA), it appears that the core spirit of the credit system, which is the expansion of student choice, is gradually disappearing, leading back to a uniform entrance exam-centered education system.

The arguments presented by the KTU and KFTA, who have been opposing the high school credit system, are as follows:

First, they demanded an expansion of the basic areas of Korean, English, and Mathematics. They argued that the current weight of these subjects, which is limited to 44%, should be further expanded.

Second, they advocated for a reduction in subjects in the Social Studies and Science Exploration areas of the curriculum. Rather than guaranteeing diverse subject choices for second-year high school students, they demanded an expansion of school-designated subjects to overcome the difficulties of career guidance and administrative confusion in education.

Third, while advocating for the suppression of students' subject choice rights, they also called for absolute evaluation to prevent fierce ranking competition. They only advocated for absolute evaluation without using the term achievement evaluation. Absolute evaluation has been considered as inflating scores and ultimately rendering internal grades ineffective. However, by advocating only for absolute evaluation and opposing the introduction of achievement evaluation, they contradicted themselves.

Fourth, they demanded the abolition of performance evaluation and reduction of special records. In reality, without performance evaluation, if special records are based solely on classroom observation, they are more likely to focus on personality-centered records rather than academic competence, leading to a loss of record diversity. Student records will be primarily based on academic grades, and as a result, the value of student records is likely to diminish. These arguments of the teacher organizations align to a significant extent with the views of Lee Hyun, who is known to be nominated as the next education secretary. Therefore, the teacher organizations are expected to demand these views more strongly in the future.

The 2022 high school credit system is now just a shell of its former self. It only needs its last breath to be cut off. It is expected that the weight of the regular college entrance exam will be expanded first, but it seems that it will be maintained at 40%. This is because even without expanding the regular exam, the effectiveness of the exam can be sufficiently maintained by utilizing the minimum grade of the subject-based exam.

This can also secure the justification for the normalization of school education. The Korean and Math reflection ratio in the college entrance exam is close to 60%. The remaining 40% is for English and exploration areas. The exploration area is tested on the entire range of integrated science and integrated social studies for the first-year curriculum. This amounts to a total of 8 subjects. In terms of the discriminatory power of the exam, top-tier students will strive to study all 8 subjects.

In the second-year curriculum, in order to barely complete 4 subjects, students must take 3 credits per semester in the exploration area. Theoretically, it is possible to complete 8 subjects by combining the first and second semesters. They will likely choose 2 subjects each in humanities and natural sciences for the first and second semesters. As a result, they will become colorless friends and students who have completed an exam-centered curriculum like this will apply for regular subject-based exams or non-major programs.

Non-major programs emphasize basic academic areas such as English and Math rather than major suitability. In the third year, they will focus solely on the college entrance exam without any further thoughts. In the future, the weight of the exploration area is expected to increase in the private education market.

This is the expected appearance of the 2022 high school credit system. Students will have very little subject choice. Some may demand absolute evaluation for the college entrance exam, but there is no possibility of acceptance. However, there is a possibility of adopting absolute evaluation for internal grades. In this case, the discriminatory power of internal grades will disappear, enhancing the role and status of the college entrance exam.

Over the next four years, the Minister of Education is likely to be more focused on defense rather than offense. If the last defense of performance evaluation and special records crumbles, the regular college entrance exam will be formalized, leaving only subject-based exams and the college entrance exam. Diversity will disappear, and there is a high possibility of reverting to a uniform entrance exam-centered education system. Can an education system that emphasizes fairness truly be an alternative for future education? Concerns are growing more than expectations regarding education.