The aim of this study is to look into the influential factor on school achievement of the
elementary students in rural area. This study set up 221 elementary schools, which
participated in 'Year-round Caring Program' initiated by the Ministry of Education, Science
and Technology in 2009, as its subjects. This study analyzed the data submitted by the
relevant schools for their performance evaluation. As a result of this research, it was found
that the biggest influential factors on the school achievement of the elementary school
students in rural area was in order of ‘Teachers' career'(r=.56), 'Number of students per
class'(r=.28), and 'Total numbers of private educational institutes'(r=.22). On the basis of the
result as above, this study is going to suggest the measures as follows:
First, it's necessary to improve the teacher-screening system for schools in rural area. The
current teacher-screening system assumes the form of school placement after screening new
teachers by city, province and region; however, this study thinks that it seems to be
worthwhile to promote a policy to get the teacher to serve a longer length of teaching
service without any regional migration by separately screening a teacher who will work in
farming area. Second, it might be also possible to consider the plan to modify the currently
implemented "added point system" which is applied to a teacher who works in rural area.
Third, raised is the necessity of expanding the currently implemented policy-based project
promoted by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology. Fourth, it is important to
reinforce the cooperative relationship between a school and a private educational institute,
and through this process it might be possible to use an institute instructor as an after-class
teacher. Fifth, it is possible to put forth a scheme to make a rural elementary school enough
to absorb not a few urban elementary school students by expanding the government and
local autonomous entity's support to rural schools at policy-based level. In other words, it
looks desirable to improve the school management system and institution so that the
children in urban area can also go to a rural school.