Students attend an inquiry-based class as part of the joint curriculum program at Pungsan High School in Andong. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]
Students attend an inquiry-based class as part of the joint curriculum program at Pungsan High School in Andong. [North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education]

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education said Tuesday it will run 334 joint curriculum courses under the high school credit system across 90 schools in the province during the second semester of the 2026 academic year, with 4,327 students taking part.

The figures represent an 18 percent increase in the number of courses and a 29.7 percent rise in student participation compared with the second semester last year.

The second-semester lineup reflects students' diverse career interests, offering general elective, career-focused and interdisciplinary courses.

Through the joint curriculum program, students can take subjects not offered at their own schools, allowing them to build academic skills and map out individual career paths more systematically.

The education office provides integrated support throughout the entire program — from course registration and attendance management to grade processing and student transportation safety.

To make course selection more convenient, the office has developed a course-registration chatbot and introduced a preliminary mock-registration period, continuously improving the system to reflect student demand and expanding the range of available electives.

During the summer break, the office will also run a premium joint curriculum program aimed at strengthening the career and college-readiness skills of students in rural and fishing communities.

Two camps will open under the initiative: "Baeumiitda Sandeul Campus," for students from the Yeongyang, Bonghwa and Cheongsong areas, and "Baeumiitda Bada Campus," for students from the Uljin and Yeongdeok areas.

"We will continue to expand curriculum diversification and personalized student support so that all students, regardless of the boundaries between regions and schools, can study the subjects they want and design their own career paths," said Im Jong-sik, superintendent of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education.


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