Education

Foreign Schools
TIP BOX
Differences Between Korean and Western School Systems
School ((031) 826-3476) in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do; Gyeonggi
Suwon International School ((031) 695-2800) in Suwon; Okpo
International School ((055) 687-3283) on Geoje Island, near Busan;
and Gyeongnam International Foreign School ((055) 853-5125),
located in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do.
The Korean education system is one of
the most competitive education systems
in the world. Koreans take their children’s
education very seriously, as is evidenced
by the tremendous amount of
money many Korean families will spend
on private tutoring and overseas educational
opportunities.
One of the most prominent aspects of
the Korean education system is the overriding
emphasis placed on examinations
in the Korean system. While test-taking
is certainly an important part of a
Western education as well, nowhere will
test scores impact a student’s life more
than in Korea. High school, in fact, can
be seen as one big lead up to the university
entrance exam. The strenuous preparation
for this exam, requiring endless
hours of cramming and memorization of
facts, produced the infamous Korean
social phenomenon of the “examination
hell,” a truly grim period of student life
marked by endless tests and study.
Conditions are changing as society recognizes
the ill-effects this system has on
the social and emotional development of
young Koreans (suicides, for example,
were all-too-common news during this
stressful period). However, you’ll still
notice that Korean middle and especially
high school students spend much more
time at school than their Western counterparts,
and even outside of school,
much of their time is spent studying,
either on their own or in private cram
schools.
While Western education seeks to nurture
body and mind, the Korean school
system tends to devote its energies exclusively
to the latter. While school sports
and extracurricular activities tend to
occupy much of the time of Western
middle and high school students, this is
not the case in Korea (the major exception
being schools with prominent sports
programs). Moreover, while the Western
system emphasizes creativity and thinking
skills, the Korean system tends to
focus more on “hard” and utilitarian
subjects like math, science, Korean literature
and English.
28 Guide to Living in Korea
Education 29