South Korea Education System NameClassIndex Number Chan Kei Fung3S205 Keith Teo Ee Gene3S212 Sae Xilong3S218 Tsai Chin Howe3S225

Profile of Korea 1. In 2015 Korea was estimated to have 51.5 million citizens, with a population density of 505 people/km^2 2. Rates of education are very high - 82% of high school graduates go on to university and beyond 3. Ranked as having one of the best education system in the world.

Factors Influencing Education Education is a serious matter for South Korea. The country invested heavily in education during the second half of the 20th century.The country invested heavily in education In 2010, spent 7.6% of its GDP on all levels of education – significantly more than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 6.3%. During that same year, South Korea spent 2.6% on tertiary education, a figure also above the OECD average of 1.6%.

Factors Influencing Education (cont.) The number of college graduates in excess of the job market’s demand is estimated at about a year, compared with an annual supply shortfall of more than high school graduates, according to the labour ministry.

Changing Trends in Educational Policies In the 1980’s there were two major education reforms that were carried out. 1. The ministry drastically increased enrollment in all levels of education. For example, the number of high school graduate being accepted into universities increased from to over The ministry banned private after-school tutoring students receiving tutoring could be suspended from school and their tutors dismissed from their jobs.

Effects of the Changing Trends The first reform brought about positive impacts with the average number of students attending higher educational institutions increasing by 100% The second reform however did not work so well. Many underpaid teachers and cash-strapped students at prestigious institutions were willing to take the risk of being caught and punished in order to earn extra cash. This lead to an increasing number of illegal classes in South Korea.

Political influences South Korea is at loggerheads with its Northern Counterpart, but not to the extent of war. Therefore it doesn’t affect the amount of money S.Korea is spending on its education Nevertheless, South Korea puts great priority on education, ensuring that every child has the rights to education and producing some of the top scholars in global universities This however, places a lot of stress on students and has been a topic of debate for many years in the government.

Economic Influences Students usually spend huge amounts of money on tuition and cram schools to prepare for the many tests that they have to take. The CSAT being the final one which determines whether they “succeed” or “fail” in life. This usually places a financial burden on their parents Hence, the fees invested in tuition are more affordable for the wealthier families which gives them an unfair advantage over the poorer. Those students from wealthy families tend to do better in the exams because of the better tuition they have received.

Social and Cultural Influences Every student in South Korea has to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and this determines which university they are able to go to. Many people consider this test to be the defining moment of their lives as it essentially makes or breaks someone’s future. This puts students under an unbelievably high amount of stress. Some students are unable to cope with this pressure and might suffer from depression or anxiety. In extreme cases, they choose to commit suicide. South Korea’s high teen suicide rate is mainly attributed to the high stress students face.

Policy Recommendation Our intention is to have a spread of exams instead of one so that students have a multitude of test to determine whether they are capable. For example in Singapore, we have the national exams such as PSLE, O-Levels and A-Levels that holds slightly greater weightage. We have the common tests and formative assessments for students to know how much they have understood a particular topic in school South Korea can adopt the same approach for their students. With more spread out exams, students can spread out their revision time and tackle different topics more effectively and more efficiently.

Rationale The rationale for the proposed bill is to reduce the amount of stress by spreading the weightage of the exams. This way if a student does not do well for one of the exams he can simply make up for it in another one. The reason why the students in Korea now are facing so much pressure is because they only have one entrance exam to determine whether they fail or succeed in life. If South Korea adopts the same approach for their students, the students can spread out their revision time and tackle different topics more effectively and more efficiently.