It must have shocked teachers, students and their parents that the deputy principal of a Seoul international middle school mired in an admissions fraud scandal committed suicide. Found dead at the school Sunday, he left a note saying that anyone involved should take responsibility for the scandal, which has enraged the public, prompting calls for the abolishment of the elite school system.

The prosecution is right to be firm in pushing for their investigation without being affected by his suicide, which has drawn little sympathy. The probe should reveal all wrongdoings involving officials at Younghoon International Middle School ― where the deceased deputy principal worked ― and another school in Seoul, which are suspected of having fabricated documents to grant unwarranted admission to unqualified students in return for money. The public anger was amplified when suspicions arose that children from wealthy and influential families gained admission with tampered test results.

Anyone found to have been implicated in the admissions fraud should be subject to stern punishment and banned from returning to school. But it would go too far to abolish all international middle schools. The head of the Seoul education office took the right stance in his testimony to parliament last week by voicing opposition to the shuttering of the elite school system.

International middle schools were set up in 2008 to nurture global talent. This purpose still remains valid, though many of them have been embroiled in controversy over expensive tuition and irregularities in admissions. The flocking of applicants to the schools have shown demand for high-quality, differentiated education. Maintaining elite schools is needed not only to prevent students from affluent families from going abroad to study but also to attract talented foreign students. The education sector should not be left as an exception in global competition.

The problem with international middle schools lies with some officials implicated in the fraud, not with the system itself. What is now needed is to draw up proper measures to better regulate and improve their management system.

In this view, Seoul education authorities’ plan to select entrants to international middle schools by lottery is unreasonable and absurd. There is no justification for their argument that the new method would allow for greater diversity and better suit the purpose of establishing the schools.

No one would agree that a lottery was a good way of selecting students with basic scholastic ability and potential to follow the curriculum at international schools. Education officials are urged to withdraw their irresponsible idea and concentrate on implementing their supervisory work properly.