Hi-Learning AI Essay Grading — Gyeonggi Province's Contested Pilot in South Korean Schools

In July 2025 the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education launched 'Hi-Learning,' reported as South Korea's first regional pilot of AI-based grading for descriptive and short-answer questions, covering Korean language, social studies and science for first-year middle- and high-school students. The system converts scanned handwritten answers to text and scores them against teacher-set rubrics with individualised feedback.

A Gyeonggi Education Research Institute survey at Jeongcheon Middle School found that of 48 teachers, 64.6% (31) had used Hi-Learning; the most-cited reasons for not using it were time constraints and perceived lack of necessity (each 35.5%). Among the 17 teachers who did use it, only 29.4% agreed it reduced their grading workload. Documented error patterns from pilot schools, reported by Kyunghyang Shinmun, included blank answer sheets receiving scores and essays at Cheongbuk High School scored highly for length alone despite missing required source material, alongside under-scoring of concise but correct answers. The research institute found accuracy improved substantially when teachers replaced vague rubric language with quantified criteria.

In November 2025 a promotional video for the system — showing an AI correcting a teacher's encouragement to a student as insincere — triggered public backlash from the Gyeonggi branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, which called it an insulting mockery of teachers' professionalism; the video was withdrawn and Superintendent Yim Tae-hee issued a public apology. Despite the unresolved reliability and trust issues, South Korea's Ministry of Education has signalled interest in wider adoption, with several other provincial offices reported to be preparing similar pilots.

Read the full analysis: https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202601090600051