High school dropouts nearing 20,000... wow

‌The number of high school dropouts is approaching 20,000, marking a seven-year high.
Jongro Academy diagnosed that the surge in first-year high school students dropping out is due to the pressure caused by the first application of the 5-tier academic grading system.
Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongro Academy, analyzed, “While the shift from a 9-tier to a 5-tier system might seem to alleviate pressure in terms of grade distribution, it appears that the primary driver is the realization that failing to secure a 1st-tier grade could make admission to major universities difficult.”
Jongro Academy emphasized, “Stable university entrance routes must be established for students who fall out of the top tier of school GPA,” adding, “Schools also need systems to provide stable education for these students.”
Pressure from GPA... over 10,000 first-year high school dropouts n.news.naver.com High school dropouts reach 7-year high due to fear of missing 1st tier in 5-tier system. The number of high school dropouts is approaching 20,000, marking a seven-year high. According to Jongro Academy's analysis of School Info disclosure data on the 7th, among 1,703 general high schools nationwide last year...
They say if you mess up your GPA in your first year, it's hard to make up for it even if you work hard in your 2nd and 3rd years, so they'd rather drop out, study, and then re-enroll the following year to secure a better GPA.
In a way, it seems they judge that to be more efficient than retaking the college entrance exam (jaesu).