Math Education in

South Korea
YONGJIN SONG
Inha University
Vice President of KMS
Chairman, KMO Committee

Tomsk State University

11 October, 2018
Education System of South Korea

• South Korea
Population: 52 million
About 40% of the whole population live in Seoul or its
neighboring cities.

• School System

Primary School Middle School High School

6 years 3 years 3 years

• The education has always been a big issue, may be the second greatest
social issue, next to economy.

• For students it is very competitive to enter good universities.

 High Competition

• There is high education fever in Korea as in some other Eas

t Asian countries, like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong K
ong.
• For high school graduates there are various ways to enter c
olleges, for example,
(1) Taking the National Exam for entering colleges
(2) Counting high school records, various activities
and project studies
(3) Taking a math exam or writing exam of each
university
※ Each year about 600,000 students graduate from high sch
ools, about 500,000 students enter universities or colleges. T
here are about 200 four-year universities and about 130 vari
ous colleges.
Main issues in Education
• In principle there are no entrance exams for high sch
ools, but there are some special high schools admitti
ng only excellent students, like science high schools,
foreign language high schools, international schools
etc.
• The issue of private lessons outside schools is a maj
or one. People believe it causes unfairness and big e
conomic burden for parents.
• In order to enter better schools, students and parent
s work hard. The government tries to reduce the stu
dy burden of students.
• The birth rate(1.05) is one of the lowest in the world.
Now every year only 350,000 babies are born and th
e number is expected to be decreasing quickly.
Basic Policy of Education Department

• The government wants to reduce a few things

(1) Reduce the study burden of middle school and high
school students
(2) Reduce the private lessons outside schools
(3) Reduce the number of new students entering universities

Especially in mathematics, they want to reduce the contents in m

athematics textbooks. In the past thirty years the contents have b
een reduced into half, in order to make ‘easy mathematics.’ Basi
c set theory, complicated factorization of equations, some feature
s of functions, complex plane and functions, matrices, several imp
ortant theorems and concepts in calculus have been eliminated.
New Math Curriculum starting in 2018

New Curriculum of High School

11 grade 12, 13 grade

Common Math General Choices Professional Choices

Math I Geometry
Math (For two
semester) Math II Economy Math
Calculus Practical Math
Probability & Statistics Math Project Study
The Content of Common Math
Common Math
Subject Chapters Sections
Product of polynomials
Remainder theorem
Factorization
Complex numbers and quadratic equations
Symbols and Equations
Quadratic equations and quadratic functions
Various functions
Various inequalities
Number of cases
Math Number of Cases
(2 semesters) Permutations and combinations
Functions
Functions
Rational functions
Irrational functions
Coordinate plane
Equations of lines
Equations of Figures
Equations of circles
Move of figures
The Content of General Choice Subjects

General Choices
Subjects Chapters
Exponential and logarithmic functions

Math I Trigonometric functions

Applications of trigonometric functions
Limit of sequences

Math II Limit and continuity of functions

Integration of polynomials
Limits and continuity of functions

Calculus Differentiation
Integration

Probability & Permutation and combination

Statistics Probability
Probability distribution and statistics
The Content of Professional Choice subjects

Professional Choices
Subjects Chapters
Quadratic curves

Geometry Plane vectors

Space figures and space coordinates
Numbers and economical life

Economy Math Sequences and finance

Functions and economical problems
Differentiation and economical problems
Patterns
Space figures and space coordinates

Practical Math Changes

Uncertainty
Remodeling

Math Project Study Meaning of project study

Practice and evaluation of project study
Science High Schools in Korea

• There are 28 science high schools in total; 20 ordinary

science high schools and 8 science academies. The offi
cial name of the latter is ‘science school for the gifted.’
The level of science academy students is in general hig
her than science high school.
• Twenty Science high schools admit 1636 new students
each year, and eight science academies admit 858 stud
ents in total.
• The nationwide best students are being concentrated a
t a single school, Seoul Science Academy. Recently all s
ix IMO contestants are of this school.
• All students stay at dormitories.
Science High School vs Science Academy

Science High School Science Academy

No entry exam.
Admit new students through three
Count only middle school records of
competitions including two-day exams
mathematics and science
Can admit only regional middle school Can admit any students regardless of their
graduates regions and grades

Students can enter universities after 2

No early graduation is allowed
years(11th grade)

Budget is supported by both central and

Budget is mainly supported by regional
regional governments, much greater than that
government
of ordinary science high school

Curriculum is flexible. Students can choose

many subjects they want to take, for example,
Curriculum is rigid
linear algebra, number theory and advanced
calculus
Education system for the gifted

• Education for the gifted in science is supported by the Minist

ry of Science and Tech. On the other hand, ordinary school e
ducation is supported by the Ministry of Education.
• There are 27 Science Education Centers established inside un
iversities which teach 6th and 8th grade students. These center
s are supported by the Ministry of Science and Tech. About 5
500 students are being educated in these centers during wee
kends and summer & winter vacations.
• There are various types of science education centers and clas
ses supported by local governments, and also by the Ministry
of Education.
International Math Olympiad(IMO)

• South Korean team has been participating in IMO sin

ce 1988.
• It has been one of the strongest teams since 1999, b
ut mainly 4th or 5th in rank until 2011.
• Since 2012, Korean team has been in the same level
as the best teams, like USA and China.

Ranks of South Korean team at IMO

2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

Ranks 7th 1st 2nd 3rd 7th 2nd 1st

Asian Pacific Math Olympiad

• APMO results for 5 years

2018 2017 2016 2015 2014

Korea 320 USA 295 Korea 315 USA 298 Korea 244
USA 306 Korea 294 Russia 294 Korea 279 USA 231
Japan 254 Thai 270 USA 269 Russia 266 Russia 218
Ranks
Singapore 231 Japan 264 Singapore 238 Singapore 259 Brazil 179
Canada 220 Russia 263 Iran 222 Canada 256 Thai 175
Russia 210 Iran 253 Japan 216 Thai 237 Japan 174
For a genius, the gift is just a necessary cond
on

If a student had the best gift in 1000 students, his/her gift would be good enough. O
ut of one million people there are a thousand of such students. To become the best in

a million people, the gift is no more an important factor. More important factors than t
he gift are:

1. His/Her character;
• Like to focus on one subject he/she likes
• Not fond of playing around with friends
• Has a strong winning desire

2. Circumstances;
• Good teachers, friends and family members
• Good experiences and memories
Modern era is scientific embryonic period

• Science started to change human life style only 250 years ago.
Considering the long history of human evolution, we may say t
hat we are now living in the embryonic (or primitive) period of
science.
• Science has a long time to go, even millions of years!
• Mathematics has been developed over thousands years, hence
has gone further in front than the other modern science subjec
ts.
- We do not have to worry about how and for what we can ex
ploit contemporary mathematics, because it will be exploited so
me time in the future as science progresses.
Mathematics is unique academic su
bject in the world which has been
developed for thousands years, acc
umulating its knowledge.
THANK YOU