Figure 1.--This Korean elementary school in 1971 had a school uniform of beanie cap, blue vest, white shirt, blue short pants, and white ankle socks. I believe this was a private school, but are not sure. |
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Short cut short pants were not as commonly worn by Korean school boys as was the case in Japan. Secondary school uniforms, however, are similar to Japanese styles. Unlike Japan, there are no private schools in Korean and even private tutoring untilmrecently has been illegal.
The first "modern" Korean schools were established in 1880, mainly by Christian
missionaries. The advancement of Korea's educational system was delayed, however, first by Japan's colonial rule (1910-45) and second, by the Korean War (1950-53). Since then, it has progressed rapidly, and Korea today has a literacy rate of 98%, one of the highest in the world. (hurray!). Korean schools (1-12) place far above the US ones in international standardized exams, especially for math and science.)
Koreans place a very high value on education. The economic success of Korea as one of the Asian Tigers is in part due to the Korean reverence for education and the value poalced on it. There is another importannt Korean cultural value--egaltarianism. These two deeply held , and sometimes, conflicting values have affected the Korean educational system. Teachers and the educational system are sometimes caught up in the conflict between these two values.
There are three basic periods in modern history which affect Korean schools. There was the period before the Japanese seized control of Korea (1909). We have no infoirmation on Koren schools during this period. We assume the schools were very traditional. We do not know how many children actually attended school. The next period was the Japanese colonia era (1909-1945). As far as we can tell, the Japanese significantly expanded the school system. Instruction was conducted in Japanese and part of the educational objectives was to supress the Korean lanuage and culture. This was followed by the independence operiod following World War II (1945). During this period Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union in the north and the United States in the south. Schools in the two areas developed along very different lines. South Korea has a very modern school system with high aschievement levels. The Korean schools have played a role in helping to create one of the most successful economies in the world. We know very little about North Korean schools.
Almost all Korean children schools go to public scools. There is little tradition of private education, even in democratic public education. The Ministry of Education is the government body in charge of academic policies. Its centralized budget varies from year to year, but generally accounts for about 20% of government spending. Currently, Korea's educational system consists of six-year primary schools, three-year middle schools, three-year high schools, and various institutions of higher learning and vocational studies. A middle school education is compulsory for all citizens. The basic primary school curriculum consists of eight major subjects: ethics, Korean language, social studies, arithmetic, science, physical education and fine arts. Primary school instructors are required to graduate from four-year teachers colleges. After primary school, 12-14 year olds enter middle school, the equivalent of 7-9th grade. After the abolition of middle-school entrance exams in 1969, students are assigned to schools based on a zone lottery system. (This ensures that the quality of each school is equal.) Over 98% of Koreans attend middle school, where they learn 12 basic subjects, electives, and technical/vocational courses for those seeking early employment. High schools today are also assigned on a zone-based lottery system. (Side note: according to my cousins, high school in Korea is horrendous. By the same source, an ambitious student averages about 4 hours of sleep and 19 of study. The other hour is used for bathroom breaks, food/water consumption, and commuting from school to library to home). So, they got rid of middle-school and high-school entrance exams. But anyone who has cousins in Korea knows that the college ones are alive and well. Imagine the SAT, GRE, MCAT and LSAT combined into one huge life-altering test-that's the national qualifying exam for higher education.
There is a strong tradition of egalitarianism that runs through public education. Students from the 1970s and 80s tell of kids wearing expensive clothes being singled out and pubically scolded in the classroom. In addition, students were not allowed to bring "pure" rice in their lunch boxes. Their mothers had to mix the rice with a cheaper variety because some of the children could not afford the more expensive quality rice. Teachers would open lunch boxes and punish the children bring the ofending rice. The reason was that teachers did not want the poorer children to feel bad.
There is little tradition of private education in Korea. The Korean Government since the 1980s has been virtually waging war against any education conducted outside the public school system. The Government has been pursuing and procecuting parents and teachers for private tutoring. Many have been fined and a few even jailed as examples. In the 1990s the Korean Government devoted a lot of effort to even prosecute private tutors--in many cases foreigners teaching English, but many Korean citizens were also priceduted. The police pursuing such teachers were dubbed "the language police".
Korea's military leader Chun Doo Hwan in 1980 immediately banned private teaching (kwawoe). While this may sound draconian to American parents who pay for private schools, tutoring, and summer camps, the goals were to ensure equalize educational opportunity and relieve parents of thecostof private tutoring--which not all could afford. The ban continued and until recently was rigorously enforced. It was finally endded in 2000 when the Korean Constitutional Court struck it down as unconstitutional because it "infringes upon the basic right of the people to educate their children'.
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The bureacratic resistance to kwawoe has not ended. Now the Government has threanted to prosecute anyone charging too much for private education. In a Korean version og Catch 22, however, the Government has not specified how much is too much. An incredible number of agencies and officials have taken up the crusade. The Ministrybof Education, tax officials at different levels, police agencies, and policy makers have threatened to release te name of teachers who offer expensive private tutoring. Tax officials threatened to audit the taxes of wealthy parents. Eve reformist President Kim Dae Jung has ordered the Ninistry of Education to work with the National Tax Office and other agencies to prosecute anyone over charging for private tutoring.
The desire of parents to futher their children's education as well as the Government's desire to promote education has caused it to relax its policies. Tutoring by college students was permitted in 1999. Middle anf high school children were allowed to tke extrcurricular courses at authorized private facilities (hagwon) in 1991. Tutoring by graduate students were allowed in 1996.
One might wonder what the concern about spending small amounts for tutiors is all about. In fact, even though it is illegal, estimates suggest very large amounts of money are involved. Korea's economic boom began in the 1970s and soon parents began spending large amounts of money on private tutoring. One estimarte suggested that parents in 1996 were spending $25 billion on private education--50 percent more than the Government's education budget. The proprtion of Korean students taking private tuition has increased from 13-26 percent in 1980 to 50-70 percent in 1997. Some Korean parents are so unhappy with Korean education and educational policies that they are educating their childrebn abroad. The Korean Government estimated that 150,000 Koreans studied abroad in 1998. While most were university students, this included 10,700 primary and secondary students.
The new Minister for Education continues to try to put an end to kwawoe, which parents now regard as necessary for their children to prepare for the college entrance examination. The estimated overall cost for such classes in 1997 was placed at around 10 to 20 trillion Won annually or approximately 2.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). A number of high profile figures, including the President of Seoul National University, have recently been caught paying for private lessons for their children at a cost of tens of millions of Won. The President of Seoul National University resigned over the incident as it is an issue causing much concern at present.
Instrumental changes have occurred to the university admission procedures to reduce
the need for private tutoring. By 2002, 50% of students at Korea's most prestigious
higher education institution, Seoul National University, will be selected not just by
achieving high scores on the annual Academic Aptitude Test but through
recommendations provided by the School Principal to ensure the students are
well-rounded. It is expected other leading institutions will also establish similar
selection criteria.
The basic school system is divided into primary nd secondary levels. There are also kindergartens as well as of course higher education.
Kindergartens exist for children 3-5 years of age. Unlike primary school, it is not compulsory.
Primary education in Korea is free, compulsory and provides the general basic education necessary in daily life. In contrast to the low primary enrollment at the time of national foundation, the current rate has soared to 99.9%, which means practically all children are provided with primary education. Children begin primary school as age 6 and runs for 6 years, the chldren finising at age 11-12 years. Such a quantitative growth is due essentially to educational zeal among the public and the appropriate educational policies of the government. The heavy concentration of school population in urban areas, however, has brought about overcrowded classes and oversized schools in cities which
may hinder efforts to improve the quality of education. Accordingly, the government enacted an education tax in 1982 to secure financial resources to enhance the educational environment and improve teachers' socioeconomic status. As a result, the number of students per class has dropped to 34.9 in
1998. Oversized schools were divided into smaller ones and the double-shift system of classes has all but disappeared. The government will continue to strive to normalize primary education Primary school teachers are educated at teachers' colleges, the Korean National University of Education, the Korean National Open University, graduate schools of education, and departments of primary education within colleges of education. Most primary school teachers are educated at the 11 national teachers' colleges. Two-year teachers' colleges have been upgraded to four-year colleges granting bachelor's degrees. Since1986, teachers colleges have offered night and seasonal courses geared for a bachelors degree to meet the needs of in-service teachers who, for one reason or another, do not hold them.
Middle schools are considered to be a part of a child's scecondary school education. The children begin at age 12 years and runs for 3 years. Children used to take a test for admission to middle school. The government abolished entrance exams to middle schools in 1969. Applicants are assigned to schools near their homes by lottery. The primary school program is basically standard. Beginning with middle school there are a range of different school programs. There are acacademic middle schools as well as other programs (air and correspondence, schools attached to industrial firms, trade schools, and civic high schhols).
High schools have a 3 year program and the children begin at age 15 years. There are acacademic middle schools as well as other programs (air and correspondence, schools attached to industrial firms, and trade schools). The alternative programs follow the program begun in middle schools.
We do not yet have a great deal of informatin about Korean school curriculum. Primary education in Korea seeks to create the an environment conducive for physical and mental development. The curriculum is grouped around five core areas: physical, social, expressive, lingusitc, and inquiry life. Many of the actual sunjects are similar to western subjects, but with a heavy emphasis on math and science. One sunject we noted at some schools lesson in traditional manners. We are not sure how common this is. I am not sure about the middle school curriculum. The high school curriculum varies depending on the academic program. Students in academic high schools with high academic standards choose a major in their second year (age 16). The choices include humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, and vocational training.
Our information on Korean schoolwear is very limited. Some Korean primary students wear uniforms. We are unsure, however, just how common this was. There does not appear to be a national school uniform, but rather one chosen by individual schools. I think many of the uniformed schools are private schools. Some have short pants uniforms, but this may change seasonally. We believe that most primary school chilkdren do not wear uniforns. We do note some boys wearing the cadet style caps. Rather we see the children wearing their own clothes to primary school. Students in secondary schools more commonly wore school uniforms. Boys in the 1970s wore military cadet uniforms as in Japan. This shows the very significant Japanese unfluence in Korean education. I'm not sure if this is still the case today.
Mark D, you ask "Anyone care to explain why Japanese and Korean schools can have
class sizes upwards of 40 students, and virtually 100% graduation rates? And spend a
lot less $$ per pupil. Could it just possibly have something to do with the kids rising to
the expectation that they will do the work?" and then partially answer with "Maybe the
extra time they spend in school has something to do with it." I had a Korean professor
who said it was common for high school students to only sleep 4 hours a night
because after school, they'd study so extensively in order to be able to get into a
university. He said the Koreans are the most highly educated population, even
exceeding the Japanese, where pressure for academic attainment has been connected
to a high rate of student suicides. I had heard that many Japanese mothers get a
college education because they want to help their childen excell in school, and they
are absolutely devoted to that end. I've also seen where Japanese elementary schools
don't need custodians, because the students are engrained in a tradition of keeping
their classrooms scrupulously clean, and this fosters a sense of responsibility to the
group and pride in their school. Japanese culture prizes politeness and conformity
more than US culture, and you could figure it would be necessary to lubricate social
relations on an island nation where space is at a premium. Fostering politeness would
mean less wasted class time for disciplining disruptive students.
A chains of hate crimes against Korean students by some Japanese have compelled the Korean school authorities to give up the practice of making the female students wear the
traditional Korean uniform in public. The Korean school authorities has revised the school regulations on school uniform to protect Korean female students.
The Education Bureau of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, in charge of about 140 ethnic schools for Koreans on Mar. 5 sent a notification to 61 high and middle
Korean schools, on a "partial revision on regulations regarding the uniforms of female students."
"For the safety of female students in view of the present grave situation surrounding them, female students may wear their esecond uniformsf when they commute, for a certain period of time," the notification said. According to the notification, female students will wear blazers and other unobtrusive clothing outside of schools and change into the ethnic costume in school from the new school year beginning in April. Koreans in Japan have been subjected to a series of threats of murder, rape, harassment, kidnapping, etc., since Japan attacked north Koreas' satellite launch in last August, alleging the
rocket to be a "Taepodong Missile." Attacks against Koreans intensified as Japanese mass media echoed "threats of the DPRK." Especially Korean children, mainly girls in Chogori, fell victims in more than 50 cases of verbal and physical abuse committed by ill-willed Japanese.
The vicious circle of Tokyo-Pyongyang relations getting tense, media clamoring about "Pyongyangfs threat" and increased Japanese attacks on Korean students has long existed in
Japan but the present case was the first in which Chongryun officially instructed schools to make Korean female students virtually unseen in their Chogori uniforms in public, though
temporarily.
Korean schools, established throughout Japan since 1940s, had no official school uniforms at first, but adopted Chogori as school uniforms in 1960s in response to a demand of female
students who hoped to assert their identity as Koreans. Not only for overseas Koreans, but also for all north and south Koreans, Chogori has been a symbol of national pride.
"I really regret the decision to make Korean female students discontinue wearing their Chogori uniforms, though temporarily, as it is a problem concerning the national rights of Koreans as well as the cultural rights of minorities," So Kyong Sik, a Korean writer in Japan, was quoted as saying by the Asahi Shinbun. He further explained in the daily, "There live more than 650,000 Koreans in Japan, but only Korean female students apparently look Korean, as they wear Chogori. Thatfs why they became the main targets of attack. Violence to these students was directed to all Koreans. It is the reality of Japanese society that aliens will receive maltreatment unless they conceal their ethnicity."
At some schools, teachers and school staffs have not yet agreed on whether or not the uniforms should continue to be worn in public. Many Korean students still wants to use Chogori as their uniforms saying, "We donft want to give up Chogori in this difficult time. That means kneeling before discrimination." Representing wishes of such students, the notification concluded with an appeal to the Japanese, saying that the schools need support from the Japanese public to enable Korean female students to commute in Chogori safely.
Film director Oshima Nagisa was quoted as saying by Asahi Shinbun, "This must have been a bitter decision for Koreans to make and Japanese people should think hard about how the
decision reflects on Japanese society."
Despite the currently raging storm of Pyongyang bashing, ethnic Korean residents in the island nation are making intensive efforts to protect their cultural heritage, inspired with mental and financial assistance from the DPRK. The last couple of years have seen Korean schools completely rebuilt in Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Hyogo, and Kanagawa prefectures. Two Korean schools in Tokyo and Tohoku areas will have their buildings renewed within two years.
From the late 80s to the early 90s, ultra-modern buildings were built for Korean ethnic schools in Ibaragi, Hokkaido, Shiga and some other prefectures.
The school rebuilding program has been under way all the financial difficulties confronting the Korean expatriates in the island country in the wake of the burst of the bubble economy.
Reconstructing Korean schools in Tokyo and Tohoku regions will cost 1,300,000,000 yen and 1,000,000,000 respectively.
What has brought the ethnic Koreans to undertake the costly school reconstruction program? There are two reasons. Dilapidation of the buildings is one major reason as most of these schools were built in 50 years ago.
The other is their reinforced commitment to retain their cultural heritage in particular in the situation where third and fourth generations are increasing in the Korean population here. "No matter how hard the construction effort may have been, we, second generation Koreans, have a duty to hand down to the next generations what the first generation created," said a committee member of the Hokkaido Korean Middle and High School, which was rebuilt in three years ago. In the recent school construction projects, second-generation Koreans have played a key role in planning and fund raising. As Korean schools are not accredited by Japan's Ministry of
Education as "regular schools," subsidies from the Japanese authorities are hard to obtain. Construction funds are mainly contributions from parents of students and graduates of the
Korean schools.
Korean residents in Japan boast of their Japan-wide educational system which has 50-year-long history. Chongryun operates 62 kindergartens, 75 elementary schools, 42 junior high schools and 12 high schools as well as a university in Tokyo. Hong Song Il, chairman of the construction committee of Tokyo Korean Middle and Junior High School, had this to say: "The greatest gift my parents left me was ethnic education. It's the origin of my life. I want my children to also be aware of their Korean identity and live proudly as Korean."
During its colonial rule over Korea, the Japanese government implemented policies designed to eliminate Korean cultural identity, such as forcing them to adopt Japanese names, banning the use of Korean language. So the first thing Koreans in Japan did when their country was liberated was to build Korean schools so as not to project their Korean identity completely as they had defended it against the government's successive assimilation policies.
What strongly encouraged the Koreans' struggle to gain the right for ethnic education was aid fund and stipends sent from Pyongyang. The financial support provided by Pyongyang in
137 transfers during 40 years, valued at a total of 43,049,532,433 yen, has gone a long way towards winning the hearts and minds of the Korean population who mostly originate in south
Korea. The south Korean regime in 40 years ago, blind to the difficulty of Koreans here, refused to support Korean schools in Japan on the ground that they were bound to be assimilated into Japanese society. Besides, the Japanese government has given resident Koreans strong "No" to the request for public subsidies to Korean schools, insisting those Korean schools are legally defined as "miscellaneous schools for vocation."
Because of the Japanese government's discriminatory treatment of the Korean schools, a number of Korean children have been somewhat compelled to go to Japanese schools using
Japanese name. Cultural heritage of the Korean nation which has a 5,000-year-long and its time-honored culture cannot be learnt in Japanese schools, where Korean children can only get a distorted view of Korea as an ex-Japanese colony. Koreans attending Japanese schools often end up with an inferiority complex, discriminated and prejudiced d by misled Japanese.
Resident Koreans have vigorously promoted the school reconstruction, far from daunted by the hostile policy of Tokyo against Pyongyang or media's malicious reports amplifying
distrust of the DPRK among Japanese citizens. The renewal of the schools clearly shows the determination of resident Koreans to protect traditional values in the same way as the first generations did and "never let the Korean schools shut down."
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