Education is extremely important to South Koreans as it plays a pivotal role in future jobs and career path. In fact the literacy rate of South Korea, as of 2014, is 97.9% of the total population, 99.2% of males and 96.6% of females. Moreover, 85% of the students go to college.
There are public and private schools in South Korea, both of which are funded by the government. The school system consists of infant school (0-6 years of age), primary school (chodeung hakgyo) (1-6 grade), middle school (jung hakgyo) (7-9 grade) and high school (godeung hakgyo) (10-12 grade). Most of the schools have uniforms and strict rules for haircut. Students attend middle schools in the same district as their respective primary schools through a lottery system. Education is mandatory till middle school.
More than 95% of middle schoolers attend after-school tutoring agencies known as hagwon. Some of the students have private tutors. Students high school grades affect the college they will be admitted to. As a result, students face even more pressure to do better than everyone else in high school. Hence, students usually leave home at 5 am and come back after 10 pm after attending hagwon or sometimes even as late as 2 am due to after-school class in school. It is said that if a high schooler sleeps 3 hours, s/he can get into the top three universities, Seoul University, Korean University and Yonsei University. The college entrance exam is called CAT (National College aptitude Test, Korean) administered by the Ministry of Education.
Competition between peers in extremely fierce. There is tremendous pressure to always do well in school as it will affect their chance of getting into a good university. Since institutional reputation and alumni network play an important role in future job opportunities and career prospects, it is vital to attend a top university.
From all the Korean drama shows that I have watched, the pressure students face in South Korea has always stood out. Parents always have high expectations from their children as a result the children are always striving to reach the bar set by their parents and are in constant fear of disappointing their parents. In fact, it is shown that competition between students and their parents start as early as kindergarten and primary school. Every parent want their children to be the best be it in studies or in extracurricular activities like martial arts, music or sports. Often this results in depression in students and might even lead to suicide.
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