The side effects of the standardization of education, led by the current government, have been immense. The quality of public education has plummeted and the cost of additional private education has risen to the level where it threatens household economies. The number of so-called educational emigrants has risen and families are being separated, while 12% of foreign currency earned from exports is being used to pay for this. The recent explosive real estate speculation in Seoul was partly due to the demand for private institutes, meaning education is now a threat to the economy.

In spite of this the Kim Dae-jung administration has done nothing to stem this, as it was committed to standardization, which is now nothing more than a name. There is criticism that the government led reform in the first part of its tenure, including lowering the retirement age of teachers, critically damaged education.

Six experts including Professor Park Sae-il of Seoul National University and Seoul University's Professor Park Jeong-soo proposed the scrapping of standardization beginning at private high schools, and raising quality and diversification in order to attract money households currently spend on private institutes and overseas education.

The agenda team recommended giving autonomy to private schools, allowing them to select students and educational curricular, manage the school and set fees, while concentrating the education budget on raising the quality at public schools. It also advised on the introduction of an external audit for transparency, the expansion of a school's board of directors, and allowing individual schools to manage their own budgets and curricular. The team said national universities should be made into special corporations.

The experts also recommended the removal of the administration governing schools and the transfer of its function to local government and regional school boards.

The agenda team cited the US's "magnet" and "charter" schools and the UK's "alternative" schools as successes in public education policy.

It proposed scrapping the current exam system for high-ranking civil servants to raise the quality of graduate schools, as it standardizes the inflow of graduates and fails to get diversity. The team argued for the recruitment of diversified graduates from specialized schools.

The team said there was a need for increased support for science and engineering graduate schools, and expanded measures to subsidize campus research. It also called for allowing universities to determine how to raise money and to strengthen the link between businesses and schools.

The team added regional education boards should come up with packages based on all elements in the region including industry, labor, welfare, continued education and retirement. To do this a partnership should be created whereby the government gives financial support and industry supplies money and orders to schools which will give back end results and personnel.