JessicaLiu

Greene
APCapstone7th
21September2009

SouthKoreanEducationSystem:SuccessfulorFailure?
AfterSouthKoreagainedindependencefromJapanin1945,thecountrywasinastateof
economicdepression.Inordertopushthecountryforward,thegovernmentplacedaemphasison
education,specificallySTEM,tohelpindustrializethenation.ThishasledtothecurrentKorean
educationsystemweknowtoday.ThecurrentKoreaneducationsystemisrankedasoneofthe
highestgloballywithhighperformancesinareassuchasmathandscience.Althoughtheir
educationsystemhasbeenpraisedandrecognizedfromcountriessuchastheUnitedStates,the
Koreangovernmentisactivelytryingtofindsolutionstoreformthesystem.Koreaisfinallysee
thenegativeeffectsoftheireducationsystemthroughlowfertilityrates,decliningpopulation
rates,andrisingsuiciderates.AlthoughtheKoreaneducationsystempushedSouthKoreaoutof
povertyinthepastdecades,reformsmustbeimplementedtoaccommodatetheircurrent
modernizedsociety.
ThecurrentKoreaneducationsystemstemsfromConfucianvaluesthatemphasize
academicstobeaprimarypartofsuccessinsociety.Inordertoclimbthesocialladderand
becomesuccessful,anindividualmustpassthenationalcivilserviceexamtobeadmittedinto
theprestigiousgovernmentruneducationinstitutesduringtheJoseonandGoryeodynasty.The
modernSouthKoreaneducationsystemhasevenbeenpraisedgloballyfortheiracademic

achievements.Inarecentspeech,U.S.presidentBarackObama(2011)praisedtheSouth
Koreanschoolsystemandthelonghoursstudentsspendstudyingintherapidlydeveloping,
technologicallyadvancedcapitalofSeoul.WhileSouthKoreahasthehighestrateoftertiary
educationamongOECDcountries(GPSEducation,2015)andthenationsGDPhasskyrocketed
40,000%since1969(Ripley,2011),presidentObamascommentsleftmanySouthKoreans
shakingtheirheads(Alpaugh).Althoughthestatisticsmaygiveaimpressionofsuccess,
individualswhoactuallygothroughtheKoreaneducationsystemfindthemselvesunableto
mobilizewithinthesystemtoachievebenefits.Likeinthepast,studentsarestuckinacycleof
hardshipsiftheydonotprioritizeeducation.Inthemodernera,itssimilartostudentsdesiresto
enterSouthKoreasmostprestigiousuniversitiesSeoulNationalUniversity,KoreaUniversity,
andYonseiUniversity(orknowasSKYuniversities).Studentsthatgraduatefromthesethree
universitiesarealmostalwaysprioritizedinthejobmarketcomparedtoothergraduatesfrom
lowerrankinguniversitiesdespitesimilarabilities.Despitetheabolishmentofthetraditional
foursocialclassesaccordingtooccupations,nomatterhowthosewhohaveloweracademic
attainmentshavepowerfulabilities,theycannotavoidlimitationsinchoosingjobs(Lee).
Studentsoftentimesevenapplytoadifferentdesiredmajorjusttoobtainthestatussymbolof
beingagraduateoftheSKYuniversities.Essentially,admissiontoanyoftheSKYuniversities
willultimatelydefineanindividual'ssocialstatusandfuturecareer.Topcompaniessuchas
Hyundai,Samsung,andLGspecificallyseekoutgraduatesfromSKYuniversitieswhichfurther
widensthegapofsocialclasses.ThisiswhyKoreanparentsplacesomuchemphasisonthe
importanceofeducationatayoungage.Therigidityoftheeducationsystemhasleftmany
Koreanstudentsfeelingpressuredandtrappedwithintheirownsociety.Unabletofindjobsand

socialstigmaofenteringatopuniversityhasledtomanystudentswantingareformwithinthe
Koreaneducationsystem.Acountrythatplacessomuchemphasisoneducationasastatus
symbolwillultimatelycreateasocietythatvaluesprestigeoverindividualpassionsanddesires.
TheCollegeScholasticAbilityTest,orCSAT,isSouthKoreascollegeentranceexamis
aprimaryfactorintheadmissionprocessofauniversity.ComparedtotheU.Sitssimilartothe
SATorACTusedforcollegeadmission,butyourCSATscoreisasolefactorinacceptanceina
particularuniversity.CollegeadmissionsintheU.Sarereviewholisticallyaswellas
academically,butinSouthKoreaonlygradesandyourCSATscorematter.TheCSATisonly
administeredonceayearthuselevatingthestressandtheimportance.Becauseofthestressthat
thetestplacesonanindividual'sfuture,ithasbeenlinkedtoSouthKoreasincreasingsuicide
ratesamongyoungadultsandteens.Althoughmostdevelopedcountrieshavewitnesseda
maintenanceofordecreaseintheirsuicideratesoverrecentdecades,thesuiciderateinSouth
Korea(hereafter,Korea)hasincreasedrapidlysincethe1990s.Koreassuiciderate,currently
33.5suicidesper100,000people,hasrankedthehighestamongcountriesintheOrganizationfor
EconomicCooperationandDevelopment(OECD)since2003(InternationalJournalofMental
HealthSystems).Oftenonthedayofexam,policeofficersoftenmonitorroofs,bridges,orany
potentiallydangerousdestinationsthatmighthinderthoughtsofsuicide.Tofurtherminimize
tension,Businessesandstockmarketopenlate,andinsomecasesstudentsareescortedbypolice
officerstoensuretheindividualsarrivesatthetestingsiteontime.Manystudentswhohave
enoughresourcesareoftentimessentoverseastoobtainaWesterneducationtoavoidtheCSAT
andtheKoreaneducationsystem.TheCSATimportanceinthecollegeadmissionprocessis
oftencriticizedbecauseitonlyproducesthebesttesttakersinsteadofcriticalthinkers.An

experimentanalyzingEnglishproficiencybyEunkyoungHaamwasusedtoillustratehowmany
highperformingSouthKoreanstudentshadexceptionaltesttakingstrategiesbutlackedthe
abilityinusingtheEnglishlanguage.TheresultsofthisstudyindicatethathighEnglishreading
proficiencystudentsaremoreaccustomedtousingtesttakingstrategiesandusemoretesttaking
strategiesthanlowlevelstudentsdo.Inreality,usingtesttakingstrategiesiscriticizedbecause
acquiringhighEnglishreadingtestscorebyknowingtesttakingstrategiesdoesnotmeanthat
thestudentsEnglishreadingcomprehensionlevelishighaswell.Intheactualworkforce,
criticalthinkingskillsarevaluedovertesttakingabilities.IfSouthKoreawantstocontinuetobe
aglobalinnovator,theireducationsystemmustbereformedtoproducecreativeandindependent
individualsratherthanconformist.
WiththecompetitivenatureoftheKoreaneducationsystem,parentsarewillingtospend
highamountsofmoneytoprovidetheirchildrenwiththenecessaryresourcesforsuccess,andby
puttingtheirchildreninHagwons,orprivateeducationinstitutes,theyhopetoseeresults.
Hagwonshavebecomenearlya$20billiondollarindustrybecauseofthehighdemandfrom
Koreanparents.Studentsusuallytakeclassesinsubjectslikemath,science,English,orCSAT
prepafterschool.IntheareaofGangnam,knownforhighstandardsoflivingandeconomic
wealth,studentsshowarelationshipbetweentheamountofschoolinginhagwonstoacademic
success.Thankstosuch,mothersinGangnamareabletoinvestandsupporttheirchildrens
academicachievementwithprivatetutoring,academiccounseling,etc.Kim(2014)recently
foundthatthereisapositivecorrelationbetweenparentssocioeconomicstatusandthe
admissionratetoSeoulNationalUniversity(SNU),themostprestigiousacademicinstitutionin
thecountry.OthershavealsofiguredthattherearemoreadmittedstudentstoSNUfrom

Gangnam(JS.Lee,2010Park,2010)(Park).Theseclassesrangefromafewhundredtofew
thousandsofdollarsdependingontheprestigeandexperienceoftheteacher.Becauseofthehigh
costofthehagwonsandoverallputtingachildthroughtheKoreaneducationsystem,couplesare
unabletoprovideenoughresourcesfortheirchildren.Thiscreatesachainreactioninthe
decliningfertilityandgrowthrateofSouthKoreabecauseindividualslackthenecessary
economicresourcestoputtheirchildrenthroughtheKoreaneducationsystem.Thefactthat
Koreanparentsarewillingtospendnearlytheirwholepaycheckonhagwonsandoneducationin
generalprovesthatSouthKoreasemphasisoneducationissopowerfulthatitsblindingtothe
issuesitcreatesintheirsociety.
EventhoughtheKoreaneducationsystemmayseemperfectduetotheirhightest
results,beneaththesurfaceSouthKoreaisfinallyseeingthedetrimentaleffectsthattheirsystem
hasontheirsocietyonaemotionalandpsychologicallevel.Becauseofthehighcostof
education,fertilityandpopulationrateshavebeenonthedeclinewhichposesgreaterproblems
forthefutureprosperityofthecountry.Reformsmustbemadetotheireducationsystemto
accommodatetheirchangingsocietyinorderfortheSouthKoreatomoveforwardglobally.

WorksCited
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Haam,Eunkyong."Thecorrelationbetweentesttakingstrategyuseandreading
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InternationalJournalofMentalHealthSystems,2016,Volume10,Number1,Page1
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