The survey categorized students as above average, basic and below basic. The survey results showed the distribution ratio according to those categories for sixth and ninth graders in 180 regional educational offices across the country and tenth graders in 16 metropolitan and provincial educational jurisdictions. For the 1,200 schools where the below basic-level students were concentrated, the education ministry plans to allocate additional budgetary support and dispatch high-achieving teachers to replace teachers with poor performance records. Academic performance results of individual schools will be revealed, starting in 2011.

What stands out in the latest evaluation are the educational achievements of rural Imsil-gun in North Jeolla Province, and Yeongwol-gun in Gangwon Province, despite their lack of funding. Imsil ranked highest in the country, with none of their sixth graders scoring below basic in social studies, science and English, while only 0.8 percent scored below basic in Korean and 0.4 percent in math. The national average was 1.7 to 3.0 percent.

Yeongwol ranked highest among the 180 educational offices, with 91.4 percent of its sixth graders scoring above average in Korean, higher than the average among sixth graders in the affluent "Gangnam" area of southern Seoul (90.8 percent). Sixth graders in Yeongwol came fifth in the country in math and third in science. Ninth graders in Yeongwol ranked highest in the country in social studies and fifth in Korean, thanks to above average scores in those fields.

Both Imsil and Yeongwol saw the need to boost the quality of their schools in order to stem an exodus of residents to bigger cities in search of better education for their children. And the two regions focused their investments on upgrading the quality of their schools.

In 2007, Imsil allocated the county's budget into opening an English-language center, where all of the area's students spend six days a year studying the language in an English-speaking environment. Starting in March of last year, Imsil began offering after-school lessons to all students until 6 p.m. and began administering its own English language qualification test and grading system.

Yeongwol offered after-school classes to its top 20 percent of middle school students. In the case of Bongrae Middle School in Yeongwol, 62 percent of its 116 students come from low-income families receiving government welfare support. Funded by the regional goverment, the school provides meals to its students, offers them after-school classes until 9:30 p.m. every day, and even free taxi rides home.

In Japan following much controversy, the government revived a nationwide scholastic aptitude test in 2007. And Akita Prefecture scored highest in those tests for two consecutive years, prompting other regions of Japan to try and follow its successful formula. Akita is a poor region located in northeastern Japan known for its rice and ski resorts. Yet after-school classes offered by its dedicated teachers, differentiated classes in Japanese and math according to academic levels, parents and teachers shared journals on the students' homework, and other measures led to a marked improvement in grades. Last year alone, 50 different regional governments in Japan sent their teachers and other officials to Akita to observe its educational programs, while Okinawa, Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures invited Akita's teachers to lecture on teaching methods.

Like Akita, the educational revolutions taking place in Imsil and Yeongwol should be presented as role models that other regional governments, schools and educational offices can learn from.