Educational system of South Korea ... by Joel Jayme

Dear Professor Olga,

Greetings of Peace!

When I read the facts about the educational system of South Korea, I learned that their education is viewed crucial and competition is consequently very neatly heated and fierce. A centralized administration oversees the process for the education of children from Kindergarten to the third and final year of high school. Their kindergarten is not publicly administered program, parents send their children to private schools. Most are taught in Korean, many of those have English class, and some kindergartens are taught almost entirely in English, it is true to some kindergartens in Korea for Upper Class. Kindergarten is composed of children from ages 3-7, most children do not attend preschool but are lumped together in a kindergarten class with other children who maybe within 3 years old age difference.

Elementary education consists of grades 1 to 6. Usually, the class teacher covers most of the subjects; however there are some specialized teachers in professions such as Physical Education and Foreign Languages, including English.

Secondary education is composed of middle school and high school. In South Korea, the grade of a student is reset as the student progresses through elementary, middle and high school. Middle schools are called in Korean jung hakgyo which literally means middle school. High schools are called in Korean godeung hakgyo which literally means high level school.

In middle school, it consists of three grades, most of the students enter at age 12-13 and finish at age 15-16. These three grades correspond roughly to grades 7-9 in the North American Sytem and years 8-10 in England and Wales system.

From the insights that I gained, I realized that there educational system composed of 12 years in schooling whereas in our country is only 10 years.

Therefore, as a school administrator, we have to support on the implementation of the K+12 enhanced basic education in our country to enhance the skills and capabilities of our students to compete globally.


* Joel L. Jayme