Marathon Stuyding

Several people have asked how long kids stay in school, so I thought I would write a blog about it. :)

The Korean government and most Korean people value education very highly. Normal school hours are M-F 9am until about 3pm depending on the grade. Saturday class was standard, but it is ending with the start of the 2012 school year. Nobody goes home at 3pm when normal class ends. There are after school classes, and studying every day. Gama offers flute, English, reading/writing, and computer science. Tosan offers martial arts, flute, piano, and I’m not sure what else. Part-time, specially contracted teachers instruct the extracurricular classes. If it isn’t a testing time, then everyone usually leaves my elementary schools by 5pm.

Middle school and high school are notoriously stressful in Korea. Testing is the driving force behind the stress. The average test score determines the school ranking so there is a lot of pressure from the administration for students to score well. Additionally test scores determine what school a student will attend after elementary. At the higher levels testing seems to be endless. One teacher joked that testing was the students’ hobby. Classes get canceled, and kids stay at school late to prepare for tests.

Even the elementary students study much harder than we are used to in the United States. The sixth grade students at my schools were studying for a regional exam until 10pm under the guidance of their homeroom teacher. One of my fourth grade students told me that she was up until 11pm studying with her mom.

A high school student expecting to go to university arrives at school around 7:30am and leaves around 11 or 12pm. A high school student at our kook sul gym told me that she studies at school with other students until 11pm every night. She said teachers are sometimes at school helping them study. The same student also told me that she lives at school and sleeps at home. She is only able to practice kook sul during school breaks, because she spends so much time studying.

There are exceptions though. Three high school boys at our kook sul gym arrive to train at 4pm, and leave at 10pm. These boys don’t want to go to university though. One of them is going to a culinary college after high school. I’m not sure about the other two. They are shy around me, and they don’t seem to speak much English.

Additionally there is a huge market for private schools in Korea. Kids, and sometimes adults join these institutions after normal school or work hours. There are private schools for English, science, music, visual arts, sports, martial arts, traditional arts, and more. The Korean government has chosen to spend money on extracurricular classes in the public schools because not everyone can afford to attend a private school after normal classes. The Korean government makes a valiant attempt at creating equal opportunity for low income kids, and students in rural areas. Unfortunately kids with higher socioeconomic status still have a significant edge over their low income counterparts.

We knew coming to Korea that education was extremely valued. We assumed that our students would be enthusiastic little angels eagerly soaking up every nougat we shared with them. This was the height of naivety on our part. Kids are kids, no matter where in the world you are. Yes Korean kids are trained, and expected to study harder than in the United States, but they are still chatty, show up late, get bored, mouth off, and fall asleep. Everyone gets bored with the same old routine even in a culture that cherishes education.