We just had our Final examination day at my school, where each grade spends the entire day writing tests in all of their subjects; Korean, Math, Science, Social Science, History, Gym, Art and Music. Yeah, no typo here... no English test. Of course the kids were really stressed about it (in Grade 5 and 6 no less) and study all weekend and all night the day before. Even the bad kids study their brains out.
What really punctuated it for me, was what two of my extra class kids told me at the end of the day. (Of course only 3 kids showed up that day for the special class I teach)
One kid told me that her friend was kicked out of her parents house after her test results turned out poorly. She was now living at my student's house. She's 12.
The other kid told me she got the 2nd highest mark in the class. When I congratulated her, she said "Oh no teacher... that is bad. My parents won't be happy I wasn't first". And then she went to great lengths to explain to me that she had gotten more questions correct, but they were of lower value than those of the other child. And this girl is 11. Were we that crazed when we were that age? I don't think so.
Korea's education system is pretty unique in some aspects. The public school system is very similar, 32-36 students per class, but the elementary schools are the size of our highschools. My school has 1,200 kids. The biggest difference comes in the after school activities.
After school, most of the students head off to an academy, which is a private company that tutors children. Classes have anywhere from 3 to 15 kids and the curriculum is totally up to the manager of the academy. Students are picked up in a van each day, usually a service provided by the academy, and are shuttled to the academy where they study any combination of Music, Science, Math, English, Chinese, Korean, etc, everyday for an hour at a time. Many students will then go off to another academy, for another hour or so. Each class costs upwards of $120 a month, and with most kids taking one or two extra classes, you can see this puts a huge burden on most families. Many families are forced to "invest" heavily in their first child, since they can't afford the same education for their other offspring, with the hopes that child will be able to support the family once they become successful. Pressure? Oh yeah.
Where you really see the problem is back in the public schools. With many of the kids taking some sort of extra schooling, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is huge. And in most cases, the schools are forced to teach to the middle of the pack; far too low a level to keep the performers interested, and a too high a level for the kids who can't afford academies. In the end, the parents don't seem to value the public schools very much and the teachers become a little disheartened by the situation.
All agree that the system needs to be reformed... at some point.
But these are the issues in a country driven to become an economic powerhouse.
Labels: Education system, South Korea, Teaching
It's all GOLD kids!
