Unveiling South Korea's Fierce Education System
- JENNIFER TON
- Nov 28, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2021
By: Jennifer Ton
Education is a critical component of our life. For most individuals, school education is the only thing that comes to mind since birth. Throughout our childhood to mid-20s, we are pressured to academically be the best for acceptance from society. Adults desire their children to do well in school, and some would go to any length to obtain academic success—South Korea is one of the best examples of education-centered culture.
South Korean Education is known for being one of the most advanced systems globally and bases its strength on “The idea that success is most important, no matter the cost” (Koo). Even though that is an excellent motto and the country has dignified institutions, it does not address the price of students receiving immense pressure to succeed, sacrificing their mind and body to a test-fixation education. South Korean education is a hierarchical framework in which pupils' education comes from teacher-taught literature, and they are unable to generate their own unique or innovative ideas.
South Korea's perspective on success is predominantly through academic excellence. Most of the time, their school facilities force their students to overstudy by requiring them to stay after school even till 10:00 pm or later. If students are not at after-class sessions, they most likely are attending cram school. In South Korean culture, parents pamper their children with extreme education-driven attitudes. The Korean college entrance exams are the reason why there is so much pressure on South Korean children.
Koreans believe that “so much of their future dictated by the outcome of this one single exam” (Sharif). It leads the students to think that academic brilliance is essential for self-worth and validation. Students will be influenced by the pressure making themselves overwork and overachieve. The intense competitive conditions piled with the routines of cramming leaves no time for self-care to nourish their physical and mental health.
I, as a Vietnamese-American, as an Asian-American, can relate to the unhealthy pressure rooted in the Asian culture to obey and work hard. I am full Vietnamese, growing up with Asian values and principles raised in an American environment. Fortunately, as I got older, my parents grasped a better understanding of happiness. They became more lenient about my siblings and I’s academic status.
When I became a teenager, I noticed how in American culture, students live freely and are less concerned about their grades in school. While receiving my education in the American system, I can function without trying so hard to be the best and focus on developing who I am. Despite the better conditions, I can still feel the pressure from society to be smart because I am Asian. I take most of the responsibility regarding stress that I put on myself because I live by my cultural values.
The consequences of their cultural obsession with education led to studies finding that South Korea’s fertility rate lowered, suicide rates rose, poverty increased, and a significant amount of well-educated Koreans unemployed. Many voices speak out “about South Korea’s educational system, which they blame for high stress levels, problems with bullying and the highest suicide rates in the developed world” (Sistek).
With the number of components that comprise the educational system, there are issues that are disregarded and neglected. There is a concern that further practices may cause greater implications, but if South Korea continues to use their methods, the school system should concentrate more on its students’ physical and mental health.
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References:
Koo, Se-woong. “An Assault upon Our Children.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Aug. 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/sunday/south-koreas-education-system-hurts-students.html.
Sharif, Hossein. “Suneung: The Day Silence Falls over South Korea.” BBC News, BBC, 26 Nov. 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46181240.
Sistek, Hanna. “Korea Student Suicide.” Poverty and Development | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 8 Dec. 2013, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/12/8/south-korean-students-wracked-with-stress.
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