Education in South Korea: National Treasure or National Headache? Byong Man Ahn (Ph.D.) Vice Chairman, Presidential Advisory Council on Education, Science &Technology Former Minister of Education, Science and Technology Republic of Korea

Table 1. The World’s Best Countries in Education, reported in Newsweek 1Finland 2South Korea 3Canada 4Singapore 5Japan 6Switzerland 7Estonia 8United Kingdom 9Ireland 10Netherlands 2

Korea was left in ruins after the Korean War fighting ended in 1953 and by 1960 its economy was on a par with that of Afghanistan.

Korea today: One of four Asian “Tigers”

Table 2. Trends in International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS), Grade eight, 2007 MathScience CountryAverage scoreCountryAverage score TIMMS scale average500TIMMS scale average500 Chinese Taipei598Singapore567 Korea, Rep. of597Chinese Taipei561 Singapore593Japan554 Hong Kong572Korea, Rep. of553 Japan570England542 Hungary517Hungary539 England513Czech Republic539 Russian Federation512Slovenia538 United States508Hong Kong530 Lithuania506Russian Federation530 Czech Republic504United States520 Slovenia501Lithuania519 5

Table 3. Programme for International Student Assessment (2009) 6 ReadingMathScience Country Ranking Average score Country Ranking Average score Country Ranking Average score OECD countries Overall OECD countries Overall OECD countries Overall Shanghai Shanghai Shanghai Korea, Rep. of 1～21～2 2～42～4 539Singapore Finland 1 2～32～3 554 Finland 1～21～2 2～42～4 536Hong Kong - 3～43～4 555Hong Kong - 2～32～3 549 Hong Kong - 3～43～4 533 Korea, Rep. of 1～21～2 3～63～6 546Singapore - 4～64～6 542 Singapore - 5～65～6 526 Chinese Taipei - 4～74～7 543Japan 2～32～3 4～64～6 539 Canada 3～43～4 5～75～7 524Finland 1～31～3 4～74～7 541 Korea, Rep. of 2～42～4 4～74～7 538 New Zealand 3～53～5 6～96～9 521Liechtenstein - 5～95～9 536New Zealand 3～63～6 6～96～9 532 Japan 3～63～6 5～95～9 520Switzerland 2～42～4 6～96～9 534Canada 4～74～7 7 ～ Australia 5～75～7 8 ～ Japan 3～63～6 8 ～ Estonia 4～84～8 7 ～ Netherland 5 ～ 13 8 ～ Canada 4～64～6 9 ～ Australia 4～84～8 7 ～ Belgium 7 ～ ～ Netherland 3～73～7 8 ～ Netherland 4 ～ 11 7 ～ Norway 7 ～ ～ Macao-China - 10 ～ Chinese Taipei - 11 ～ Estonia 8 ～ ～ New Zealand 6～86～8 12 ～ Germany 7 ～ ～ Switzerland 8 ～ ～ Belgium 7 ～ ～ Liechtenstein - 10 ～ Poland 8 ～ ～ Australia 7 ～ ～ Switzerland 8 ～ ～ Iceland 9 ～ ～ Germany 8 ～ ～ United Kingdom 9 ～ ～ U.SA 8 ～ ～ Estonia 8 ～ ～ Slovenia 10 ～ ～ Liechtenstein - 11 ～ Iceland 11 ～ ～ Macao-China - 16 ～ Sweden 10 ～ ～ Denmark 12 ～ ～ Poland 12 ～ ～ Germany 11 ～ ～ Slovenia 13 ～ ～ Ireland 11 ～ ～ OECD countries average score493OECD countries average score496OECD countries average score501

The Chosun Dynasty ( ) adopted Confucianism as its ideology 7

Since the Korean War, parents have been willing to sacrifice everything for the education of their children—even selling farmland or prized cows. Universities in the 1960s were thus called “cow bone towers.”

Junior high students leaving their hagwon late at night. 9

Table 4. Share (%) of Education Expenses in GDP (2006) 10

There is a Korean saying, “Sa Dang-O-Rak,” that translates: “Four hours succeed; five hours fail.”

Table 5. Index of Students' Positive Affect Toward Mathematics (TIMSS, 2007) 12 Countries HighMediumLow RankingScore Singapore Russian Federation Hong Kong United States England Sweden Lithuania Italy Chinese Taipei Australia Korea, Rep. of Japan Hungary Average score

Table 6. Index of Students' Positive Affect Toward Science (TIMSS, 2007) 13 Countries HighMediumLow RankingScore Singapore Hong Kong England United States Italy Australia Japan Chinese Taipei Korea, Rep. of Average score

A number of boarding schools have opened across Korea 14

President Lee and Dr. Ahn visiting a new boarding school 15

Education Reform: Teacher Training 1.Establish 4-12 week English immersion and pedagogy camps 2.Send teachers abroad for six-month training & graduate course work 3.Upgrade university programs 4.Provide pay increases as teacher skills improve

Lectures from the Educational Broadcasting System 17

Private/Public Partnerships: English Villages

English Villages

Reform: Public/Private Partnerships EFL specialists have worked with networks to create popular English instructional TV programs.

Table 7. Share (%) of College Entrance Officer System-Selected Students in New Enrollments 21

Educational Reform: Schools Balancing the acquisition of knowledge and skills with student-centered classes promoting critical thinking and innovation.

Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies 23

Education is the noblest of all professions. 24