In South Korea, graduating from one of the three prestigious universities of Seoul National University, Yonsei University or KAIST and formally entering into the harsh business world is how you would define success.
Education in Korea may be harder than many other education systems. However the problem of the education structure isn’t from the national curriculum but rather the competition of trying to achieve better than their peers is what burdens and pressures students of South Korea. As a result it isn’t unusual to see high school students attending tutoring school and receiving private tutoring every single day for each subject until they graduate.
However this concept of constant study is something that is supported by almost all parents in Korea to the point that many families end up borrowing large sums of money from shark loaners to provide for their children’s education. Furthermore, this idea of being a step ahead of other’s is so imbedded into the minds of parents of the 21st century that parents enrol their 5 year old kid into English college or art classes. By the end of primary school, more than 50% of primary students are attending, English tutoring, Piano classes, Tae-kwondo and many more. It’s the mind-set that they need their kids prepared to be able to live a balanced lifestyle and also being able perform to the best of abilities in all genres whether it be academic or social when needed.
On top of all the extra curriculum activities they are engaged with, it is expected that all students are then expected to spend extra ‘individual study time’ after school. It wouldn’t be surprising to see that Korea has the highest rate of youth suicidal rates as many students, especially those in their final year of education, taking their lives as they desperately try and escape the reality of exams, failures and harsh competition.
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