By Fareed Zakaria, CNN
Those of you who watched our recent education special saw the exhausting study habits of South Korean students. The culmination of that pressure was last week when almost 700,000 South Korean high school students took the test they had spent all those hours working toward.
It was a wild scene outside test centers as younger kids cheered on the heroic test-takers as they arrived. Police motorcycles even whisked the late ones to school.
But when it came time for the high schoolers to begin the grueling nine-hour exam, silence was the order. Planes were grounded, honking was banned and teachers refrained from wearing squeaky shoes for fear of distracting the students. Relatives prayed outside the school gates for good results.
Why all the fuss? Well, it's widely believed in South Korea that this test determines which college a student will go to, which company they will then work at, the size of their eventual paycheck and even whom they will marry. That's pretty intense pressure.
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yeah well, they may not be so wrong in their thinking... wish I took h.s. tests more seriously. 2nd year college-er for the win! Praying I marry a decent man. Just saying.
Permit me to introduce myself. I am Pepe Le Pew, your lover! You know, it is not just a case of physical attraction. I admire her mind too. I tell you what. You stop resisting me, and I, I will stop resisting you. When have you had a better offer than that?
giggity giggity
You need a cat.
Waiting for a Korean husband?
Gigli
let's have sèx!
I am currently umemployed., but I love you
All these posts in a row made me lose faith in humanity..
This whole article is so stupid. South Korea has the #1 scores in the world. Why? Because these kids study for this college entrance exam their whole high school careers, and they can only take it once a year. This test doesnt determine who they will marry thats the dumbest thing ever, CNN wrote it so wierd. It basically getting off of the idea that a greater score leads to a better college and a better job blah blah... not some wierd MARRIAGE thing. These students balance school, tests, and other activites like sports/music all in one day while learning multiple languages. your college work is NOTHING compared to their education system. The SAT's are a joke, thats why so many koreans score so high when they take the sats. Basically, the whole nation encourages education, and doesn't want Koreans to become some joke, no one takes this test to determine a spouse, CNN just tries to make it sound like a third world country.... we should learn something from them
"... and even whom they will marry."
It is not the first and foremost factor, but it is related.
For blind dates, one of the most important questions about a potential husband is what is their occupation which is related to which university they went to etc... and a main secondary question about a potential wife, is what university they attended. Along with other questions for both, such as their family background and prestige.
Rarely, Koreans meet someone randomly and fall in love. They often meet their future spouses through friends of friends and arranged meetings. When choosing a partner, a big part of it is logically analyzing who will be a good life partner... not just love like westerners.... it has its pros and cons...
(by the way, I have been living in Korea for a while now to know this.)
IHateStupidPeople, this test in large part can determine where someone goes next in life. What someone does for a living and how much money they make often determines that person's status in society. Someone's status in society often determines who they can marry (according to most people in their class in society). So you can say that this test, in a way, determines who the test taker can marry.
I do not know the details of the Korean exam. But being from India, I can vouch for one thing, the SAT is crap, meant for mediocre middle school kids. The same goes for the GRE. Students applying to grad school in engineering and science are tested about middle school algebra and geometry. CNNs coverage is condescending nonsense, full of back handed complements.
Have you ever been to Korea?
Yes, it does if you are a male student. The woman in South Korea will choose a person on income before love/charm. Same around the world. It was proven the more money you make woman will find you more attractive. Let say you look like Brad Pitt but you make 12,000 a year your not get with a great girl. If some looks like a retard but makes millions. well guess what he will beat you by a long shot even if your smarter.
Yes, it is to be admired for all of their dedication. However, as an ESL teacher of Korean students, these students (and culture) ARE TIRED! They act like robots and when they are exposed to some sense of outside of their cuture, they have NO idea of how to cope. Critical Thinking skills are not taught nor are they a priority. It's difficult some days to challenge them to think outside of the box. All of these things are also ingrained into the traditions of the culture. It's eye opening!
Ummmmm.... I've been living in south korea for 4 years. The illusion that korean students are sooo smart due to the test scores is big fat LIE. My students have been telling me that they just memorize and test. They're trained to take tests well.. But do you think that means they REALLY understand what they're learning? That is NOT the truth.. My students told me they "memorize and forget everything." They're NOT happy at school. I don't love how people admire this crappy education system when I'm living here and see what they go through. It's a very oppressed society. The students don't have the right to express their frustration with the education system. In america your actually encouraged to express our anger and frustration with our system.. But in korea? you think they are allowed to do that? Ummm No....
I teach outside the box which is different than what they know. They find it shocking and interesting. All I know is when my class is cancelled, the students complain. I must be doing something right.
Yay, and maybe one day we can have one of the highest teen suiside rates in the world, too!
Annamarie.... I'm with you ALL THE WAY! I can't emphasis that enough. I've read various sources, and I believe the suicide rate among the high school students is increasing AND I think that more and more high school students are finding opportunities to go abroad to study. If not high school age, then it's college age. I would never want to be a student here in South Korea. My life is more precious than what they emphasise. We all have our own opinions and our experiences, but this is a very oppressive environment to be in.... I'll always be thankful for the opportunity to be here and for the experience.
iHateStupidPeople ... is that the new Crapple device? Should I wait in line for it on black friday. Or is that a comment about the fanboys who wait in line for and buy the latest products because Crapple won't run Surly on their earlier devices and it's like alien technology doooood?
Actually, they could take the exam twice.. I have seen exception to the rule... The exam definitely will impact your peer in college, profession, and life.. So to say that it don't affect your future spouse is blind.. Heck, who do you think the American upper class marry? Within their class.. They end up in the same school (Harvard, Yale, etc.) as legacy and end up meeting their future spouse. It is no different except the value of money is not focused but education (though money could help bolster your education score). This is no difference from SAT and the High school prep exam courses except the exam in Korea is even more stressful and extreme (hence, the high suicide rate in students after the exam)
Unless you are really blind, status does make a difference in some culture (not saying it should but that it is). So love and happiness is not the same value structure here in the US compare to Korea (though it is slowly changing in Korea).. Koreans (like myself) emphasize education above all things and the nation as a whole is the same. Someone posted that creativity is not there? I would say somewhat but creativity can't make something abstract into reality. At the end, you could have so much creative visionaries but you still need the "actualist" to make it a reality.. And most high paying jobs are in "actuality" model (design into actuality). Again, parents are thinking ahead for the future of their children (let alone their reputation and pride.. This is where I disagree with parents like my mom). Ironically, most of the leading and young designers in fashion are Asians with Koreans being emphasized here (just check FIT, Parsons, etc). Also, Korean broadcasting, studios, etc. are one the premier in Asia (again, the issue about creativity is a bit off people). Again, parents like their children to obtain high paying jobs and the likelihood of dollars and cents for creativity will be low for many who seek that direction (I am being real and frank about it. I am a network design and implementation specialist and that requires technical, abstract, and creative skill sets.. Application that many feel Koreans lack.. Just not always the case).
At the end, the culture emphasize higher education and graduate work.. Again, education to make advancement.. There are issues in the system but you can't deny the success it brings to the people as well. I do believe it needs to alleviate some of the failing points (too much emphasis on the "TEST") and focus on developing the tools and resources for success in any field.. That is not a simple solution. If it was then the American education system could be fixed overnight (and it has not and seem to be failing in many ways).
Lastly, if students do not do well.... Most goes to the American university system (if they have the finances) for their secondary education. BTW, that helps the US economy (and how funny our biggest selling goods in the US is military and education)....
finally, an intelligent reply and explanation on this blog for reason of South Korean educational success. My daughter currently teaches fourth and fifth graders in South Korea and learning is intense even at that level. Additionally, teachers are held to very high standards. My daughter is evaluated (unannounced) three to five times per year and teachers who fail any two evaluations in one year are gone. I think our country could learn quite a bit by studying and implementing their educational system.
Implement the Korean educational system so we can score better on exams? Critical thinking and creative problem solving are much more important!
IHateStupidPeople: It is clear that you haven’t spent much time in Korea or studied the Korean culture. If you had you would not have made such a stupid remark about spousal selection. I guess IHateStupidPeople also.
David R, I like your post. There is an element of racism in the argument that Koreans (or other Asians) are not creative. This goes back to nineteenth century arguments that non-white Europeans represented an earlier stage of human development (non-Europeans were more cleosely related to Apes than white Europeans). An example can be seen in Dr. Downs' description of his eponymous syndrome (Trisomy 21) as "Mongolian Idiocy." However, Europeans had to explain why East Asian societies had goods they wanted a culture they admired (ceramics, furniture, philosphy, gunpowder, fireworks, etc) . Thus, they developed a theory that East Asians were really good at "copying" and not at creating.
I've found that most people are equally intelligent, creative, inventive, artistic, rational, analytical, and capable. What differs is their cultural frame...
what Fareed meant was if all other the things can go so well, why not marriage.
Agreed. My daughter teaches English in S.K. and her students spend as much time in school as most Americans spend at work. They go to regular school for long days and then come to language school in the evening. The pressure to perform is extremely stressful for these kids but it is a part of the culture from a very early age. Academic excellence is expected and anything less is considered to bring shame on the family. We in the U.S. could take a lesson from their playbook.
You must completely despise yourself then! XD
@ hmmmm "Let say you look like Brad Pitt but you make 12,000 a year your not get with a great girl. If some looks like a retard but makes millions. well guess what he will beat you by a long shot even if your smarter." But it is highly like when her rich husband is working making those million she will be banging the poor guy that look like brad pit.
Koreans are very smart. They have worked hard, so let them enjoy being successful. I know there is a lot of pressure for the kids today than before in the last 30 years, because now a days you are made to learn even more than before. Thank Technology, its a gift and a burden at the same time, but its life, so get over it! Good luck to all the test takers, and i wish you well!
@IHateStupidPeople
If you can agree that maybe one student will land a college and get married to a woman of his dreams based upon his studying techniques and methods, could you agree that maybe just one student benefited in landing the wife he always dreamed of? I think so.
I will marry you <3 <3 <3
He hee ...
Oddly, I think it matters less WHAT you major in, in college, than how well you do. I wish more college students understood that.
Try telling that to an Art History major – want fries with that?
wow that's your master plan? Of course if you were a "liberal arts" major or one of the other non business type degrees you end up being generic office worker #4 or the "assistant" who gets coffee or sitting in a tent getting molested at the next 99% event. If you are hot then you might get lucky. If you want my advice. Hit the Gym every day for at least 2 hours, if not more. Then find a "friend" who has access to rich men and get yourself introduced. If you are lucky you will get married to a "nice" rich guy. At least you might find yourself with a sugar daddy.
Hermain! Get back to campaigning!
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid system !!!!
Why? First of all, it gives you only one chance a year to take the take, so if a emergency occurs, you are screwed for another whole year. This dumb edu system is trying to make everyone fit all in one dumb system.
Great. Another content-free page on CNN.com that exists solely to get ad impressions.
One test to determine how much money you make, who you marry, and where you work? Hot damn, that's a lot simpler and easier than the old "hard work, dedication, and charm" system the rest of the world continues to use. Sign me up.
Clearly you don't understand. This is Korea. They will work hard for the next 50-60 years. This culture does not allow for the worthless piles of garbage we have here in the US. The perfect example would be the Occupy protestors asking for the rich to share their earnings because they haven't worked a hard day in their life.
Right on target, my friend ! How sad that what some perceive as kindness or humanity merely increases and perpetuates the misery at an ever increasing pace and cost.
Clearly YOU haven't seen the real Korea. This test is a joke. There are so many young Koreans vying to get into the best colleges, and they study so hard in high school to do so. All so they can land the best job, make the most money and marry the prettiest materialistic un-affectionate spouse, so they can have that overpriced apartment with the toy dog and the male and female child, and then secure an apartment for yet another materialistic mistress on the side. That's the dream, apparently. The only problem is, you have 27 year old college graduates who can't find a job because their area of expertise is about as full as a stopped up sink. So, all those years of study, and then just skating through college amounted to nothing. IF they land a job, they will be pee-ons for several years, and then move up only based on their age – not their accomplishments. And when they DO move up, they will almost certainly do so by greasing the palms of their superiors. It's called gift-giving in Korea, but the rest of the world calls it bribery. If they are at the top of the heap one day, they will be able to bribe government officials left and right to maintain the status. And if the ever DO get caught, they can simply apologize, pay a "fine" and avoid jail time for the same kinds of offenses that put Martha Stewart and Leona Helmsley in prison. Yeah....real useful system they have in Korea.
Leave your parents basement much? Coward.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Seoul/182278451850267
So clearly you don't know anything. There is an Occupy Seoul movement. The occupy movement is worldwide.
When you provide subsistence, rather than opportunity, that will happen.
Hm. The South Korea I lived in for several years also had a lot of cash flowing around the system to offset sub-par performance....
If the occupiers are all just whiners who want money from workers, then why is their major concern the influence of money in government? You haven't even taken the time to find out what they're upset about. What do you do, sit around waiting on Newt to fill your head with thoughts?
That's a lie. Occupy isn't about that, you stereotyping simpleton.
Ed has South Korea spot on. I am an ex-pat living here, and the level of fraud is astounding. The single most important determinate of your position is who you know and pass a kick back to. Fraud and corruption are rampant. I've never been so thoroughly disgusted in my life.
Well, well another very frightened rich guy or rich guy wanna be.You are afraid and quite possibly you should be.The world is about to change and if people like you don't get it soon you will be sorry.Get some courage and join the 99% because 1% can't stand up to this for long if history is a guide.
Ed hit right on the head.
Korea is all about economic status. The wealthy ensure their sons are placed into the KATUSA program. The poor get to the pleasure of getting their butt whupped as ROK Soldier. I still enjoyed my time in Korea. Aside from the racism and double standard the Koreans I worked with great and worked very hard in accomplishing our tasks.
...lol no spell check. Maybe I should have taken the test.
I wouldn't want to go to school in any of the Asian Tiger countries. Learning serves to earn a good living and is not for the sake of knowledge.
haha i went to my act baked this is crazy
school shhmool.
Sad, yes, education is very important, but you also need to live a little. Asian countries have the highes suicide rate, and why not. Why continue if you aren't living? I feel bad for these kids.
Yes. Being a hopeless lump on society on the dole is better than suicide, that much is true. Slog on bro.
It's the Scandinavian countries who have the highest suicide rates...
"Why continue if you aren't living? I feel bad for these kids."
They are high school kids who have time to study. If they studied a few hours each week through middle and high school and a little more before the exam, they are ready. It is a long test and it is high pressure, but this is not really that hard compared to what will be expected of them as adults. Myself and numerous people I know work over 50 hours per week plus about 10 hours of work-related reading per week plus all of our adult responsibilities. However, even if you work only 40 hours per week and have a family, the life of a hard-working high school student would not be that big of a deal.
South Korean teenagers study 80-90 hours a week–easily.
A typical SK student goes to school around 8 am and finishes around 10 pm.
Well lets just the school hours and still koreans strongly believe the school does not provide sufficient education for the students..
No, you are wrong, Koreans don't 'study' 80-90 hours per week. That is a total misconception. I know, I taught high school in Korea for almost 3 years. They are either at the school or off buying snacks or playing with their friends in the park, listening to music on their MP4 players or talking and horsing around. Only about 1% actually 'study' hard and don't study 80-90 hours per week. Sorry, but not true. It's all just blown out of proportion. Out of 200 students, we had one student in the last 2 years get into Seoul Univesity and he is considered 'gifted'. Although, he did study hard, he was always one of the smartest in class and just had a great mind for catching on quickly and memorizing.
I agree with one post that stated most Koreans will memorize, take a test and get a decent or high score, then forget. The comprehension level is not great in Korean high schools for most students.
Many students are very creative, but that is not how the tests are set up or what they are taught due to culture.
Furthermore, most Koreans will never leave Korea. It is a very closed society where marrying into your own culture is celebrated and encouraged by many parents. Many students only go to college to please their parents because their parents are paying for their apartment and lifestyle in hopes of having a son or daughter with a college degree in a honorable profession.
I am from America and recently graduated with a MBA in several fields. It amazed me how many Koreans are so closed minded and only know one profession and are disillusioned by what they think Americans are like or how the rest of the world operates. They are clueless. Having that said, many Americans are the same way.
This article is a good article but maybe a little exagerrated in my opinion.
Albert Einstein would have flunked all those test!
definitally would have flunked. He doesn't speak korean
Dead people usually don't speak anything.
What nonsense.
He would have excelled at the subjects he enjoyed, and performed with mediocrity in those which he did not.
You do not understand what genius is.
Actually Einstein barely made it through school. He was a shoddy scholar. Turned out to be a great researcher though.
This is a myth. Albert Einstein took exceptional grades in math and sciences in high school.
Yes, Einstein did exceptionally in math and science as a kid. The idea that he was a failure but somehow turned out into a genius as an adult, is just a myth, that semi educated people with inflated egos reassure themselves with.
.... maybe their lives don't have much meaning after the exam, 'cause one exam in high school determines almost everything. Life should not be determined in that way, it is a marathon not a one-exam session.
And in regards to that marathon to which you refer– these kids are just warming up. Public University is free, and the best schools can only accept so many students. So, there is a huge vetting process. Unlike the states where any average student can pay his way into a quality University and knowing this will likely never develop the discipline required to actually study more than thy neighbor. Good luck, though.
I would "like" your comment if it were available here, ndstrenge.
I don't think the real business world transfers to one exam in highschool.
Most universities in South Korea are private, and are among the most expensive in the world. Public universities are less expensive, but they are not free...
I have been on foreign soil. We are told this drivel of how the Eastern Cultures "always know best" (and always definitely know more) than we here in the dear old USA. I have seen the Philippines first-hand. I would hate to think that I had to exist(not live, because they are not really "living") in this or any other of these fabled Asian countries. The children really do come home looking like zombies. And all so they can continue the fifty-plus year old practice of scraping by on the skin of their teeth. Fareed Zakaria and the rest of these big-government loving Statists need to decide if they like the Oriental nations better than the USA. If they do, they need to pack their war-bag, and GIT! These poor Asian school children scarecly have the ability to think without being told WHAT TO THINK. I guess that is how the semi-Commie govt.s "Like it, uhn huh, ahn huh."
north korea is best korea
and your mom is the best bi**h
correction...
it's his dad. he's the best b!Tch!
ikeeeeeeed
I'm very curious how North Korea is the best Korea. Please explain. How can a country experiencing massive starvation, that imprisons three generations of families be better?
It's alright, we understand.
We know your Dear Leader forced you to say that or you'd be sent to the slave camps with your entire family.
And it has come to the point in America that the high school you go to, went to or dropped out of determines what gangs you will be allowed to join and just how fal up the Cooperate Gang Ladder you will be allowed and just what type of drugs you will be allowed to use and sell. In the event you are a genius of a crook in this country, you can go to work for the Right and become a paid politician.
Lol, i dont see many gang members becoming republicans. Not that the republicans arent corrupt. But no less so than the democrats. Let's not pick and choose here.
Yeah, the Democrats wish they could have serial gropers and philanderers like Cain and Gingrich running on their ticket. As David Vitter proved, it's moral if a Republican does it.
Korean people are considered the JEWS of the Orient – for obvious reasons.
How so? Do you have something against Jews? My fiance is Korean, and I have spent several years there. The only correlation I see between Korea and Israel is the security arrangements with the U.S. and mandatory military service. I really dont see where you are going with this, and you are probably the reason why GI's (if you are one) get such a bad rap there.
Korean women make the poorest international marriage. Ask any immigration official as to how they perceive them in their quest for a "green card".
james- i beg to differ. The girl I know has no interest in getting a "green card". As a matter of fact, it is I who wish to reside in her country. Korean girls (the decent ones, anyway) are not Pinoys.
If so, then why are there so many Korean ladies in the U.S. working in Korean bars or as masseuses, Most have been married to Americans and have no other talent.
james- that is most likely because their GI husbands met them in a massage parlor or a bar. I met my girlfriend at a college in Korea, and I can assure you, she is intelligent, along with alot of the other korean girls i know. GI's dont know where to find decent girls, go figure.
Dear Alex: If it is you who hankers and slobbers to live in "her country", by all means Sir, please go and live THERE and ascribe to THEIR ways. Do not be a "Zakaria" and try to force their foreign ways down our American throats. God bless America!
no, i believe it's the CHINESE who are considered the "jews" of asia. there are way more many chinese than koreans in asia. chinese businessmen make up the bulk business in countries like indonesia, malaysia, thailand and during the asian financial crisis in 1997/98 they were made scapegoats of the crisis. many chinese businesses were looted and chinese population were harassed.
the fact is the chinese is the most entrepreneurial people in the world.
Korean language is altaic language, similar to Turkish, Mongolian language, Manchu language. koreans think themselves as decendant of nomadic tribe in Northeast Asia. bow, arrow, and little horses are trademark of ancient Koreans. Jews? Are they decendant of hunters? I don think so. you so simply says "Orient" but there are so many peoples.
worst education system in the entire world. They have schools but they are so low level that almost all students have to study in kind of private schools after school hours... called akwon.
They pay so much money, they waste so much time.. the students go back home late night, all teenagers have their skin like 40 years old western men/women, suicide rate super high.. well. good luck, my child won't study here.
Yeah. That is probably why your child won't even know how to do simple calculations mentally.
Yeah, that is probably why the U.S. is losing to the Chinese.
The difference between the US and China is the cost of living in China allows their workers to make much less money and still earn a living. This in turn makes manufacturing in China very attractive. The American worker cannot afford to work for Chinese wages. Don't worry, though. When we go broke, we won't be able to afford the things that China makes anymore. Then China will sell to Chinese and we will be forgotten.
These people are working in sweatshops and being paid enough for the steamed white rice they eat each day and barely scraping by. How is that better than America, all you people who fancy yourselves to be in love with Eastern culture? The low cost of employee pay, benefits and poor quality of life are the ONLY REASONS the cooperations want to do business in these poor, flea-bitten places.
What? You sound like a parent who doesn't give a s*** as long as your kid sits in a classroom 8:00-3:00 doing who knows what. At least the Korean students in this article have the balls to excel in their studies. Sure, the pressure is high, but you know what, that may just be what is required to compete in this world.
Haha.
I am just so astounded by the ignorant parents in this country.
They think that they can let their kids do whatever the kids want because "creativity" is cultivated. AHAH
That is probably the funniest thing I have heard.
Education is the way to success. Why do you think college dropout Bill Gates is trying to change our educational system?
and your mom is the best b**ch
I have been an english teacher for awhile in korea, and I am going back next month. It is insane the amount of pressure that is put on them and the amount of hagwons (academies) they have to go to (some kids go to music, taekwondo, english, math, and science hagwons). They dont have much free time, nor time to sleep for that matter.
Just curious Alex. Are you really a degreed English teacher from an accredited university or just one of the many who claim to be an English teacher only because he/she can converse in English. I've met many of the latter in my civilian travels from Busan to Seoul and they are a joke.
Whom they will marry? Generalizing the idea from what you heard and read could give a wrong impression to those who don't know what this country is all about. At the time of testing, these kids don't thinking about their paycheck, where to work, spouse. All they want to do is just to get it over with the test and get on with their lives. Of course, the smart one or a few % of kids will get in where they want to study and eventually will have a better opportunity to decide where they want to work.
This is exactly why American university students are the most intelligent, innovative, and creative . We don't focus solely on grades and test scores, which don't prove intelligence at all. We believe in the individual student as a whole and focus on fostering his or her abilities and passions. If you talk to most Korean students, they can hardly express themselves nor can they think for themselves.
david, have YOU spoken to "most korean students"? as in, in korean? most koreans are shy speaking english. in any case, i haven't found them to have problems being innovative and creative. some are, some aren't. as for american university students, i'm going to go ahead and assume you haven't spoken to many of them. because otherwise you wouldn't describe them as "the most intelligent, innovative and creative." ever heard of penn state? seen videos of those morons overturning cars in the name of pedophilia enablers? think of any large university in this country and think of how many worthless degrees in beer pong we hand out every year.
First of all I am Korean, I have gone to school in Korea, and I have graduated from Korea. I have also gone through the American school system and I have graduated from an American university as well. So I'm not speaking out of my ass. But if you look generally, America is the most innovative country and you can't deny that. Granted, the majority of graduate students may not be up to par with your ambiguous standards, but almost everything that is popular in the world today was produced by a US student.
HAHHAHAHAH.
You call our college students the most intelligent? Oh my. You are the most worthless piece of caveman our society has produced. By 2050, We will have 123 million highly skilled jobs available, but only 50 million Americans will be able to fill it. Some college education we have. Humanities majors should just stfu and not even waste their money on college because STEM is the only way for future economic growth in this country.
First of all, the study that you're referring to is not credible. So nice try quoting that. Second, people who major in humanities are not "worthless" which you presumably are insinuating. Third, if you're referring to "Stem Cells" when you say "STEM", you have no idea how economics works because it's a lot more complicated than that.
No, he means Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM). sigh...
STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, not stem cells.
And Joe is somewhat right. Students studying humanities generally don't realize that they're spending exorbitant sums of money on a degree that probably won't get them a job. If you're interested in something, treat it as a hobby.
All, leave david alone, he's been brainwashed to think that independence and lack of rigor and discipline fosters innovation... And to those people who think Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were inventors who benefited from growing up in our "free to think" society, just remember that those two men made their billions from technologies taken from others.. a la Gates from Xerox for Windows and Jobs from a German Company called Frauhofer-Gesellshaft for ipods.... I'm just saying...
You have no idea what I'm saying. First of all, people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were innovative in the sense that they changed the world technologically. Even if they didn't develop certain products entirely, they had a of what they wanted and developed products that changed the world. That type of innovative spirit and entrepreneurship doesn't really exist in other countries on a wide scale. And I never said that a lack of discipline allows you to become this way. I said that we are lucky to be able to attend univerisites that don't look at us simply by numbers but as people. I have no idea what you're being so defensive and making me sound like an ignorant person. I am totally for science. I'm just saying that the American Education System is not all bad. Granted it has problems but its main focus and foundation is better than that of Korea.
Thank you everyone for agreeing with me.
By the way, David, STEM does not stand for stem cells. I just wanted to remind how ignorant you are. Jobs and Gates were just two examples of million other innovators who succeeded. Mainly because they were just smart and geniuses to begin with. So you are saying that we should wait for these geniuses to pop out of the womb and start reviving the economy?
Hell no. We need more engineers and scientists to further develop ways for energy crisis and technologies. etc.
EVERY AMERICAN, I NEED YOU TO STEP UP AND START WORKING YOUR ASSES OFF TO COMPETE WITH THESE ASIAN COUNTRIES. WE WILL LOSE TO CHINA WITHIN A DECADE. I AM A KOREAN AMERICAN, BUT I STILL LOVE MY RED, WHITE AND BLUE. I WILL NOT ALLOW US TO LOSE TO CHINA.
On that thought,
If the US education is that bad, how come most of the Nobel prize winners are from the US. By the way, can you
name one or two Nobel physics or chemistry winners from South Korea or India?
because Korea didn't emerge out of the dark ages until the 70s/80s
it's sad
but the article is half right and half wrong.
it's little exaggerated and the writer is committing the fallacy of composition.
However, this article remind me my highschool life
it's also why I don't like Korean Education even though I'm a Korean.
I hate South Korean.
How about a counter-balance story on the fact that teenage suicide in South Korea is one of the highest in the world. In 2009 the rate was 17/100 000, compare that to the U.K 3/100 000 and USA 5/100 000.
Which means roughly 4999 out of 5000 don't crack under the pressure, as opposed to 19999 out of 20000 in the United States. Sure, 17 v. 5 is a big difference in rates, but either way you are highly unlikely to have a dead by suicide classmate.
What a contrast; in Korea, the country shuts down so students can focus on a test. In america, students don't bother to turn off their cell phones.
I am a graduate student in Korea. The school system here is completely different from the west education system. Generally, professors are god's...u dont even have the right...work till midnight including weekends... Korean education system is UNHEALTHY.
대한민국 최고!
훈민정음.
if you guys want respect then refrain from posting in korean. Outcasting people by speaking korean is not a acceptable way of communication. I know this i used to speak korean with my korean friends when i was talking crap about my white friend. Even if you guys are just saying GO KOREA! you should type all that out in english so many more people can chant with you.
Same in the US. A simple SAT will most likely determine which college to attend and your future is there. Dont get me wrong it happens in most countries...yes a simple test that they have prepared to years.
Comparing the SAT to the Korean SAT (수능) is like comparing Steven Hawking and the dumb kid at the back of the Physics classroom.
which one is which?
The pressure is intense. Too intense. Korea has the highest suicide rates among teens. Although the korean education achievements are great, they do come at a price. A lesson must be learned and they need to level up their education system taking into consideration mental health.
The american system needs to learn the most valuable lesson on why american education fails. The Parents.
Parents in the united states are ALL talk NO substance. When it comes time for action, like helping with homework, checking in daily on school progression, basically giving a damn about your child, our nations parents fall short.
well i cant blame all parents. 1% do a fantastic job. Its the 99% that i have concerns over.
This is truly a pathetic nature at its highest. SOuth Korea is over populated people fight over jobs college graduates have no jobs. even their ELITE IVY type graduates from top south korean schools. WHY THEY DO THIS THEN? WHY PARENTS ARE ALL SO MUCH INVOLVED IN CHILDS education? The major issue is that ALL THIS MISERY IS TO "SAVING PARENTS FACE" infront of their peers. I do not know when this will end. PARENTS put all their life saving into educating child for NOT CHILDS SAKE (belive me its not altough it appears that way) many believe their child has to out perform child next door for their own sake not childs sake thus eg. everyone has to have piano lessons and taekwondo lessions putting So much pressure into even a kindergarden child. typically you see child at 10 yrs old having a no time to play as a child . soon as child is over with school they are wisked away to another lessons after lessons (private lesson) that drains and puts so much pressure into parents . Many parents cant even afford these private lessons but they find no choice under pressure .BUT HOLDON NOT EVERYCHILD NEEDS PIANO lessons. WHY do htey even respect what child wants? Mostly the answer is NO. ALL for the stupidity and SAVING FACE . South korean educaiton system is nothing short of misery. They bring up ROBOTS not A PERSON. they are ROBOT FACTORIES. they need to learn alot of US school in many ways ( yes except bringing guns to schools) yet Many western school emphasize individuality and creativity and they are geared toward making and teaching what is really necesssary for real life giving choices of education.
I totally agree. I live in Taiwan, and have lived in China. Schools in East Asia are indeed robot factories. Students are taught to be conformist and do everything PERFECT according to instructions. There is no room for creativity or thinking outside the box. Asia may be rising now, but it will hit a ceiling at some point because of a culture that doesn't permit higher-level thinking.
No it will not.. It has the U.S. to do the creative thinking and other countries. They can always wait till something new is invented and just make it better then sell it.
Excuse me ke dongshan? Have you ever visited schools that offer creative majors? I am a graduate student studying architecture and I'm consider myself 50% Korean 50% American. I have friends in various design fields from music, fashion, industrial, interior, jewelry design, A LOT of them with their own practices and believe me, the Koreans that I know are the ones that EXCEL in these CREATIVE fields just as much as some Americans (a lot of Americans I know grew up with same level of emphasis on education too – Asian parents aren't the ONLY ones, mind you) and Europeans too.
In fact, did you know that AESTHETICISM has always been a huge part of Korean education system from our Dynasty days??? Do you not see the insane level of creativity in all Korean media? I hope you have noticed that we have exceptional sense of good taste that's also acknowledged by western people. That's not to say that they don't either but just saying that design values in our culture is super high as well.
Reading this post makes me so tired of people that stereotype Asians as JUST being technical, especially from fellow Koreans.
So please stop stereotyping, it's so exhausting.....
Btw, from my experience, the ones that truly can NOT think for themselves and have NO problem straight up copying have been the ones that have been educated in China.
So ridiculous and pathetic. Nothing wrong with trying to do well but putting THAT much emphasis on these tests is patently ludicrous.
The Korean system is a joke. I know, I lived and taught there for 6 years. I worked in unis for 5 years and I can honestly say that working THAT hard in high school sets a person back in his or her mental growth. A 20 year old Korean is mentally like a 15 year old in the west. It's not just the work they put in while in school, but also the studying until midnight in private academies AFTER the high school day is done. But, it's the only thing Koreans know. If they knew more than 1 way to do something then they wouldn't be Korean.
But the Koreans are the purest race on Earth...
Compared to american college students, (like the Occupy wallstreet socialist brigade) they kind of are...
Alex, you're so fkn dumb that you missed that joke completely.
ㅇㅏ ㅈㅣ ㄷ ㅁ ㅎㅏ ㅁ ㅕ ㅅ ㅓ
ㄹ ㅗ ㅗ ㄴ
ㅅ
3개국어에 능통한....Trilinguist
2개국어에 능통한....bilinguist
1개국어에 능통한....American. Since it so simple, I like 텅빈 American.
The Korean system is good for general competence but not for producing innovators and world-class researchers. No matter how much Koreans boast of being the smartest people on the planet, its smartest will never match the creativity, intelligence, and innovation of the top 1% of US students. The geniuses of Korea are still no match against the REAL geniuses in the US.
Most engineering students from Korea (including from Seoul National) are good students, but not EXCEPTIONAL students. The real geniuses don't have to study 20 hours/day like the Koreans do. They live and thrive in the subjects they are immersed in and don't treat it as a chore or responsibility as most Koreans do.
Tell me about it. Even my students that go to private English school after public school can't come up with a creative story. Korean parents study the fun, imagination and creativity out of their kids in attempt to make them a trophy. What is left is a shell of a child who only eats, sleeps and studies; totally soulless and cold, like an office park with out any trees. Which is funny because thats what Seoul is like a mega city where all the buildings look exactly alike.
The reason why the U.S produces more creative students is just because America has much more population and territoty! With the limited polulation, resources and territory, I think Korea is the only country which grew from one of the poorest nation,after the Korean War(1950~1953), to the economically successful nation which has GDP of 12th in the world! And that was possible because we, the Koreans, had outstanding human resources! Human resources are the only resource we have and I'm sure Korean students are not just a "robot" or "uncreative" students. Koreans are smarter than you think.
Real Talk, american ingenuity comes from lsd and weed. American schools incite ingenuity? LOL whatever.
This happened almost two weeks ago... and the facts seem to be culled from stories written two weeks ago.
Korean people are kind of ugly, flat every where, flat faces, flat noses, so glad I'm not Korean.
No, you are glad you are a 300 pound trailer park resident, who could not get a korean girl and decides to rant on the internet because of it.
I'm glad you said that. Although it is true that they lack the latina curves, Korean girls have high standards. For sure they don't date trailer trash.
have you see their boy bands and girl groups? the boys are quite handsome and the girls are gorgeous
They're also only behind Brazil in being made out of make-up and plastic surgery.
What's with the white men hating on a white man who doesn't like ugly, flat faced Korean girls? God have mercy on your tortured, confused souls.
I'm glad i'm not any shade of yellow...
Yes, Chump we are overjoyed and super blessed that you aren't yellow.
Don't have the balls to post a picture up of yourself huh? Flat is not so bad... better than round and bumpy.
You don't have them either, tubbalicious.
Once again, I beg my fellow white men and women not to turn on one another. It's what the heathens want.
Caught a nerve, didn't I?
Wonder why...
You're funny in an fat white trash kinda way.
buy a dog – or crawl under a rock and live with a snake – racist
i being a korean-american am thankful that my parents immigrated legally. when i go to korea, my cousin goes to school at 5 AM to study for classes, goes to school, go to different hagwons (academies) after a brief snack at a resturant, returns home at about 1, studies and does homework until like 3 or 4 and then gets an hour or two of sleep. its not that the schools in south korea are bad. its just that they feel that they need more to make themselves more well rounded for colleges. sorta like america where we take all extra cirruculars but a lot more intense
This is the most racist racialist blog that I've ever read.
And teachers in the US whine that they don't want to teach to the test, so the child gets left behind...the rest of the world.
If Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg were Korean, they would have been crucified for dropping out of the most prestigious universities in the world.
ooooOOooooO.. they would never find the right spouse!
Indeed, due to all the pressure on the students, when finish college, they lack the innovation and leadership skills. That is why they have to copy all the products already made.
Probably more than half the products you use in your life is from either Samsung or LG. Have some respect. Better than the uneducated hooligans in the US.
you have a point there...my friend works at Samsung in Seoul, their fear of Apple and American design innovation is very high within the ranks...if they fall back in design/innovation they will have nothing, China is already the current king of manufacturing (Designed in America, Made in China...Korea's biggest threat)
It's pressure indeed. But come on......that's nothing compared to chinese education pressure to the teens... I'm not saying it's bad but true pressure indeed.
Is that what you call life? No thanks. I'm going back to my mom's basement to play video games, eat and sleep.
Ahhh life is good.
s that what you call Korean life? No thanks.
I'm going back to my mom's basement to play video games, eat and sleep.
Ahhh life is good. No stress, no worries, it's like heaven
Canada woooohoooo!
I am an English teacher in South Korea. I promise all the kids have dumped it from their mind by now. The students can't actually solve problems they just memorize the test which gets dumped from their brain in a week.
You are the one who is teaching. Teach correctly.
Is this why all of the Yank soldiers died? To make the world safe for this? Boo. Mash indeed.
Too many folks miss the whole point of this piece. It's not just about how hard S. Korean students study so they can do well and supposedly enjoy the fruits of their intense studying but more about how seriously these folks treat education. The fact that the whole country seemingly shuts down just so these kids can take an all-day exam shows the degree of seriousness with which the S. Koreans view education. I can almost guarantee you that by the time the typical S. Korean student graduates high school s/he probably knows more about the world than the typical American student. Whereas S. Koreans value and venerate education too many of us decry and disparage the educated in this country thus we end up with dimwits wanting to be the next president.
I agree with you. Education is very highly regarded in Korean culture and its not something bad. It shows that students take learning seriously.
There are all forms of education my friend. Knowing an opportunity and being able to charm your way into it is one of them.
When I think South Korea, I don't imagine social butterflies.
Don't believe the hype about the Korean educational system. I teach university in Korea, and students routinely sleep in class. In fact, a recent survey found that 2/3 of middle and high school students in the country think students have a right to sleep during class, and more shocking, 1/3 of the teachers agreed. This test is mostly a test of memory, and so, the educational system places a heavy emphasis on rote memorization. There is little creativity, romance, or even happiness in here as evidenced by one of the highest suicide rates and lowest birth rates in the world.
Agree completely. I taught in the Korean uni system and know how ridiculous their system is. Haha, I still remember having to pass students who had never been to my class. "Who are you again, oh what's that, you want a C-"? Korea is a great place, but it's also a joke.
The reason why students sleep in your class is because your lecture is so BORING!!
Robert, Even you could get a uni degree in Korea.
Korean life is not really like these life articles make it to seem like. Exaggeration may I say? It's kind of like how articles talk about EVERYBODY eating dogs in Korea. Having lived my whole life in Korea, I know that it is not true.
And thinking about it, this is the same everywhere. Do well in school, go into a good college, get a good job, marry a kind spouse. Don't make it look like this only happens in Korea. This test is the same as any other college application. It shows the university if are hard/efficient workers and if we eligible to go to their school.
“poshintang” .. yes they do eat dog soup in Korea (http://consumat.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/73/) and it is very well known yummy among the poor but it seems popular with the older crowd
보신탕. I'm Korean and I should know. Dog meat is shunned between Koreans too. I NEVER tried this. Nor has my grandparent or my parents or anyone who I have ever known in my life. I never even saw a boshintang restaurant before. The media hypes it all up to catch the attention of people like YOU so you can go blabbering off about it to everybody she/he sees.
I'm an American living in Seoul, and I can tell you that they exist. and many of them. My Korean friend took me to one of them, and it was packed with old and sick people. We were the only few young males there, popular with the old, not so pop with the new more GLOBAL generation.
I'm also an American living in Korea, although I live more out in the countryside. When I take my walks through the farms, I take a specific route to avoid the dog farms. I can't handle it.
I have no problem with the idea of eating a dog. I have a big problem with the way they are treated while they are alive and with the fact that they are often tortured before they are killed (it is believed that adrenaline in the meat makes men more virile...).
Pretending the problem doesn't exist will not make it go away.
modern day version of the chinese imperial examinations!
Duh! I'm a Korean but I do not support their current education system at all.
The parents only teach their children how to beat the score rigorously, not creatively. They only praise about the score and tend to ignore about morality and tradition. What good is it if the children only know how to make money mathematically, not how to improve their emotional intelligence? I'm in tutoring business in US and never ever seen a single Korean student happy about their current situation. I'm so afraid how Korean kids become later in the society without learning anything about true value of morality.
Education is overrated, I am a high school drop out, created my own company, gave jobs to dozens maybe hundres of people, some of them bough houses with their salaries and I live in a beautiful house in the best neighborhood in Santa Barbara. The best knowledge you can have is to know yourself and persist in what you love to do. I feel sorry for those kids. Look at what we are at as an "educated" society, we are about to cut the branch that we are sitting on. Know thyself brother...that will carry you all your life. We feel we have to become someone and we fail to see that we are already something beautiful...
Word up! Korean-Korean they suck big time!
Meanwhile my wife from South Korea skipped that test and build one of the greatest toy companies in the world.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
-Steve Jobs
wow if only america cared as much for the future generation as the Koreans do. where is the u.s. compared to countries that are as serious about education as Korea?
Thank you USA! Where you don't need brains or common sense to be admired. If we had a test like that we would all be homeless and borderline retarded!
I am Korean, so I've visited Korea often. Korea is definitely not "homeless" and "borderline retarded." In fact, Korea is innovative and very advanced. Smart phones were normal when the majority of people in the US had flip phones. Their smart phones 8-9 years ago were already live streaming television shows while that's something we've only gained recently in the states. Obviously there are flaws to their system, but they are learning the value of hard work in a way that I haven't as a high school student in the US. I had grandparents, parents and cousins go through this system who served in the World Health Organization, graduated top American engineering schools, work for big US aerospace companies and large Korean companies like Samsung.
I believe that Hannah was saying that if Americans took that test, a large number would fail it and be classified as she indicated. She wasn't indicating that Koreans would be homeless nor borderline retarded.
one ring to find them all and then bind them!
NINE HOUR EXAM!!! Are these guys crazy?! I'm sure there are better ways to test students.
Asia needs to rethink these gruesome ways of testing their students. Is it just me or is the educational system there in-passionate.
Critique of an educational system coming from someone who thinks "in-passionate" is a word. Isn't it about time for your night shift at Mickey D's?
I'm wondering how many of you who are praising South Korean education have ever spent any time in South Korea. I am back for the second time (four years the first time around). I teach at an intentional school that Korean parents sacrifice everything they can to get their kids into. This article is one of the key reasons they are willing to do this. Korean children spend the bulk of their years in primary and secondary school memorizing during the school day, then attending private academies until as late as 1 in the morning to pass this test. While public school doesn't start until Korean age 7 (Western age 5 or 6), many children spend up to three years in pre-k/kindergarden preparing for the 12 years of memorizing in public school.
The result is that while Koreans are great at passing tests, there is almost zero focus on creativity. To quote a former student (Korean, btw): "Yeah, Koreans get good scores on math tests, but when was the last time you heard of a Nobel Prize winner in math from Korea?"
I bring this up because this is where current educational policy in America is routing us. The focus has become preparing kids to take mandated state tests. I left a public school in Texas last year where teachers stopped teaching the curriculum in JANUARY to begin prepping kids for the state test in May. When I tried to do something different, I was railroaded into test prep as well. Our kids learned nothing of any lasting value from January onward.
That is not an environment that creates the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and other American inventors and entrepreneurs.
What Korea does RIGHT is that they focus their attention on the importance of education. Teachers are held to a high standard, but also are held in very high regard (there's an old Korean proverb that says, "whether it is from the father, the king, or the teacher, it is the same."). When children are unsuccessful, parents hold their kids accountable, not just the teachers.
What I love about my current job is that I can teach a pre-NCLB Western curriculum (complete with disovery-based activities, research, Socratic discussion, etc) to students with a Korean educational ethic. It is, to me, what education should be.
Good grief! You are teaching at an "intentional" school? What kind of school is that and just what is the curriculum. Korean parents pay good money to learn what?
An international school is a school with american/british curriculum with people from around the globe. I go to an international school as a middle school student and I see this as a very good experience for me since I get to mingle with people who have different cultures and speak different languages.
International school. Please forgive a spelling error. It happens to the best of us.
What are you talking about Koreans have no creativity? Oh my god... what an ignorant, biased thing to say.
Have you seen what they design, their industries, their business solutions, their industries, their modern architecture? Fashion? I can go on and on. You are a biased fool.
Don't be a hypocrite and go back to Korea if you don't want to see or point that out.
And I'm not Korean!
Wow... you are a very angry person. Please don't put words in my mouth. If you will re-read my post, you will see that I said that the Korean test-based system puts no focus on creativity–and that I see the same problem in the implementation of such a system (NCLB anyone?) in the United States.
Scream bias all you want, but I am speaking from experience–not just my own, but also that of my students, their parents, other teachers (Korean, foreign, public school, private school), and a host of others here. What is your direct experience with Korea, other than a Samsung TV or cell phone?
You may want to spend some quality time with Google... check out news stories on the lack of creativity in Korean industry. Samsung, for example, recently received quite a bit of negative publicity for lack of innovation.
I will never question the Korean work ethic. Nor will I question the character of the people here. I will, however, stand on my earlier statements about the education system.
Do some research before you react in anger and ignorance, okay?
Oops...different computer, different moniker. krats1976 = Manta
Memester, Try to be less offended and more knowledgeable about the subject you are commenting on. Since you are an expert on S. Korea, how many Nobel Prizes have they won in the sciences and literature? They are a developed country with a vaunted educational system as well as higher IQ's than the US. What's the explanation?
Manta, your former Korean student epitomizes their so called Gold standard education system: There is no Nobel Prize in Mathematics.
;0) Fair enough...though, she was a middle schooler speaking off the cuff at the time. Her point is a valid one, though.
They prayed? I thought of all people, South Koreans would be intelligent enough to know prayer and religion are bullsh_t. It just goes to show here is no shortage of imbeciles anywhere in the world.
Have you ever tried to explain to a uneducated, barely literate, 60+ year old grandma on why religion is false? These old women pray because that is all they know.
I've taken this test in the US also. Only here it takes 3 minutes at a slumber party...
Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House.. anyone else play MASH?
Ironically, I didn't wind up marrying my 5th grade crush but I believe this test might be as accurate in my personal success as the 7 hour version. Life is strange.
I'm so glad that I am not korean I heard life is too hard in south korea too many people in little thiny land korea is most populated country after bangladesh there people just like bugs bugs
I am a public school teacher in Seoul. I have a huge problem with this system. CNN and many in American like to hold South Korea up on a pedestal because of their high test scores. First off, if that's all you focus on his taking a test than you will be the best at it. The level of pressure this puts on children is unfair....just 2 weeks ago a middle schooler killed herself at my friends school over grades.
A more rounded approach needs to be adopted by their school system.
America should not adopt their system or look at it like a gold standard. We should rather take a page from their enthusiasm and their family culture's orientation around education and HARD WORK.
I do not consider a country to have a successful education system when in almost all cases the only way to be successful within it is to seek private tutoring/schooling.
South Korea will improve their system over the next couple of years, no doubt, that's what they do. It's just funny to many Koreans here that we talk so greatly of it, when many here (teachers and parents) have huge criticisms about it.
(Based on my first hand experience and nothing more)
This just seems insane. A person's character can't be put down on some kind of standardized test. I know some extremley highly educated people, but when it comes to work.... they're just useless. These kinds of tests can't show that.
This is just plain crazy!! You get your wife by how you have confidence in courting a lady... and your studies does give you an edge for work but its still is not everything to get a good job. For most of us we start small and by the years we eventually get to become managers or more with perseverance in learning, sacrifice and passion.
I love Koreans. The areas in Los Angeles, Mid-City Koreatown are spotless, they have their own economy, everything they build is spectacular, modern, forward thinking, neighborhoods clean, they keep to themselves sure, but I want more Koreans in the USA! Please, overpopulate LA!
Yes, they may come off a little terse at times, but who doesn't. I rather deal with a Korean business man than with a thug. A closed culture? Good! So far, they've hired me, paid me well and some make great bosses.
The actually pull their kids OUT of public schools and if they do have them in public schools, they don't let them eat the school food. I love that. Ultra smart, very disciplined culture.
Keep your distance, show respect, share their goals, let them know you appreciate what they continue and all is fine.
Sad part though, is the serious SMOKING problem they have in their youth. I suspect a lot of cancer situations will hit them later on. The 20-somethings smoke way too much, and many of the older gens as well.
Check OECD surveys on worker productivity and job satisfaction for S. Korea. They are among the least productive and unhappiest workers in the developed world.
This type of system can cultivate bookworms,math adicts, science geeks etc..... which is and edge for career life.. IQ is way up the charts!!! but EQ is downhill!! something emotional comes up and extreme reactions come into play.
Like a student didnt pass the test... commited suicide instead! Or could not get a job.. goes into deep depression and all other emotional breakdown!! lol There is more to life than learning math and science.. dont put 100% to it. Give it a 70% the most...
Sad for a kid to grow up this way
You are right...and I agree totally. There's more in life .... pity them!
The critics of Korea's educational system are too extremist. Overall their system is better because they work harder on the fundamentals, they are more prepared to upper-level education material. If koreans keep regarding education highly and give more time for students to focus on their passion, it is not difficult to see Korea becoming a powehouse in no time. While the west only declines.
Keralia, Korean society including their educational system is responsible for Koreans being amongst the most unhappy, least productive and most suicidal in the developed world. Latest reports show Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world.
Unless something changes quickly, Korea will implode due to a demographic bust.
ooooo....stressful.
AND EINSTEIN WOULD FAIL IT! Not everyone is a genius on paper however, I do admire their push for education. THAT is good, status is not. MHO.
Korea's fundamentals are a lot higher of that then of the United States. I was born and raised in the States but of a 2nd generation Korean descendent. I hear many stories but hear about family in Korea who took this exam. It is highly regarded as to where your life will lead after college since the businesses in korea really look into what school you graduated from.
It sound like S. Korea just need make more university. Maybe they don't think of that.
Wow. A day of silence for an exam in Korea as compared to survival of the fittest and don't take my money here in America. We're gonna get exactly what we've got coming to us. Trapped like a monkey; we know it; we can't let go of the precious.
Higher SAT score helps a student go to a prestige college or university...it's the same in S. Korea.
A Degree from a prestige college or university gives a better chance to find a job...it's the same in S. Korea
Working at a well-known company (well...just "working" these days considering how hard to land a job) could add as a plus when it comes to choosing a partner....it's the same in S. Korea.
Generally, Asians put high value in Education hence hard-work in School. Therefore, they probably get a better score on tests. I'm not saying that Asians smarter than another race. it's just that if you study hard and put more efforts in studying, "generally" you get a better score.
I know that students in S Korea have a lot of pressure because I was one of them. However, What everyone wants to learn here before you want to "judge" S Koreans or their education system is that they want the same thing as you do. They believe that good education will help you in many ways.
ooops..**** could be added (where is my morning coffee??)
Zakaria is just an overrated sc um bag...who cares what the illegal says.
What is so ironic and even laughable is that in America you can be mediocre and still end up a millionaire with a beautiful wife (or husband). In fact, I'd guess that it is probably the same in most cultures – it is just how the world works. Asians put their kids through hell for nothing. Case in point, I was a mediocre student myself and I was promoted ahead of many "geniuses" who slaved for 4.0 GPA's. Why? Because I know how to work smart, kiss butt when I need to, and not exhaust myself overdoing things. And a lot of people who are more successful than me are college dropouts who started their own businesses. Don't worship at the altar of the Tiger Mother, education is just a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Teachers will hate me for saying that, but it is true.
That's true! Higher education doesn't always guarantee success. And sometimes it takes the luck of the draw and in a place like America, sometimes its who you know. But higher education is still a good thing because in a conplex and changing world, one would have problems finding his or her way around from time to time without it.
This is how education should be. High school should totally be college prep and taking a test to get into a college with your choices being limited by your score unlike the crappy SAT which does very little for you in the end. Truthfully the only difference is that they dont have to go begging the colleges to let them in even if they score high on the test. The test is their entrance to a better life. True they must still strive through college but they already have a goal of a good job waiting on the other end. In the USA it's all about choices but not about goals. Choose a school and hope you get a job. Take the test and hope it helps you get into school. Go out on a date and hope he is stable or she isnt a nut. Is it no wonder the USA is so screwed up. The whole country went silent to better help their future, read CHILDREN, take their test. Ask a teacher in the USA to not wear squeaky shoes and get a discrimination lawsuit or an argument about being able to wear whatever she wants. As a person not to pop gum, stop working in loud jobs, no planes flying overhead, etc...NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.
What's with all the dismay? The Korean culture values education as a tool for economic success. In the US, we tend to value recreation as a tool for...I don't know what. So many people on this board comment about Korean students spending countless hours outside of school studying. US students spend countless hours outside of school practicing for sports they will never play professionally, watching TV, and 'hanging out with friends'. I do not suggest that these are inherently bad things for young people to do with their time, but it just goes to show how differently our cultures value education. Maybe their emphasis on a single test seems a little over the top to Americans, but what do we do? Complain that they work their kids so hard to take one test and on the other side, we complain that they outperform us on international assessments. We can't have our proverbial cake and eat it too, just by virtue of being Americans.
Korean college education is a joke. It's unbelievable that the country goes to such lengths when they know their system is a joke. Let me explain. I worked at a Korean university for 3 years. And, like most Korean universities, it's impossible for students to fail. As long as they sit their bottoms in the seat at least 60% of the time, they will be given a passing grade regardless of their test scores, homework etc etc etc. This is a FACT! Point 2, is that plagiarism is rampant. Koreans rarely do their own work even at prestigious Seoul National University where a "world leading" cloning professor was caught lying and plagiarizing his results just a couple of years ago. This is why so many Koreans want to study abroad!
eslangel is spot on! Having lived in Korea for the last 17 years, I can tell you that it is a well-known fact amongst the general Korean populace that kids are pushed by their parents from the first day of preschool to pass that test to get in to the best colleges. This includes spending money (which the family doesn't have) for private cram schools which operate during after-school hours and cater to preparing for the "big test", which may be years away for these kids. Wrote memorization is the defacto teaching method. Doesn't take the sharpest teachers to send kids home with 300 math problems to memorize. The final irony of all of this "slave education" is that, once the test is passed,it is common knowledge that "you have made it in the world". You no longer have to study in University, which is just a ticket punch to a low-paying white collar job making coffee for Chaebol (big family-owned businesses such as Samsung) executives, until you reach a certain age. As a matter of fact, your High School affiliation means more to your future success than anything you do in College, which is widely considered to be one big Frat house. Sorry, I love Korea, but I don't see any rising stars here, no Steve Jobs, no creativity due to the education system. Only high school test takers who excel at saying "Yes, Sir"!
At University of Illinois when I took the LSAT for law school, a huge protest was outside the auditorium where we all took the test. The protestors were yelling about the native american mascot. It was a mess. Many students ended up protesting their score.
Um...why was this written. This is a short summary of an article written 2 weeks or so ago. There is no new information here. The headline doesn't even say it has anything to do with the Highschool testing. Here I thought I may have had something to do with the tension between the North and South. Guess not. Nice cop out for new material Zakaria, now hurry and collect that check!
The author was cribbing for this article?? That is downright funny! Especially in an article on testing. Guess he was too busy preparing for the holidays to do real work.
Most important here is something else; they learn a work ethic that American kids have, for the most part, completely abandoned. My son is over there now, training at the Samsung plant for his job here; fortunately he already had the work ethic to keep up with them; probably 80% of his fellow American college graduates never developed it. And he's being highly successful.
If the Korean work ethic is so great, can you explain why Korean workers are amongst the most unproductive workers in the developed world? See OECD survey on worker productivity by nation.
Korean work ethics helped Korea out from poverty and made herself modernized. However, the work ethics should come with flexibility that fit to the new century; no longer can the companies drive its employees like slaves with meager salaries and not much respects.
LOL – In Florida they teach you how to tell time in the third grade... We are leading the pack for sure...
Koreans and some other asians simply work a TON harder than the majority of the world. While the manic practices and expectations dont need to be so extreme in the US, we could learn a lot from the work ethic.
The education system in the United States is not as bad as stated by the general population. The majority of students are quite bright and have a great amount of information and resources at their disposal. The only problem is the disparity between the better-performing 10% and the lower 30%. This discrepancy in learning accounts for the lost prowess of education in the United States. I currently attend high school and there are many talented kids who clearly excel in many different things. This generation may be brighter than previous generations.
Oh my god!!!! Where have my comment been gone? ㅠㅁㅠ
What's so wrong about using your IQ to determine all of those things, including marriage? The state doesn't force them to marry within their IQ levels, just that South Koreans are conscious of someone's potential intelligence when it comes to creating offspring. Makes sense, considering they want their children to be smart and outcompete us lazy, dumb Americans.
I also forgot to mention that their system of meritocracy is far preferable to ours – where the lucky and the ruthless prevail.
Do your best and let fate take over. There are many cases of people failing exams and still being successful, some exams test memory not intelligence.
The Korean High School Exams is a busy time of the year for me.
So – it's like the SAT?
How about just build sound proof testing rooms? no need to stop the whole country lol
then again North Korea is always "silent" except for the Ronery person running it.
IM SO RONREY *detonates nuke in the mountains*
Best comment so far .. !! I do admire the importance of education, but not up to this extent.
The stupid test don't determine who you are, but yourself!
Lol, seriously? All this for a test.
Man, in America a dude/chick can screw up several times in highschool or college; still get rich, get respect, and a lovely wife/husband.
Too bad we Americans don't take education so seriously. We invented the term 'dumbed down'.
zero Nobel laureate in South Korea. (except for only one Nobel Peace Prize laureate)
The main problem with Korean education is not so much the system itself, but the barbaric pressure to succeed imposed on young people by their parents and Korean society. "Family honor" and "face", the hallmarks of Eastern values, were rejected in the West quite some time ago. They are outdated notions that cause great misery. Putting the full weight of family honor, and even national pride, on a student's shoulders is unconscionable. The suicide rate among young people in Korea is very high and continues to rise. It is taboo to seek mental health treatment in Korea and other Far East cultures; people suffering from anxiety or depression who seek help are considered cowards or sissies, and are ostracized. Some commit suicide while others endure years of agony. Bullying, including collective bullying of individuals by large numbers of students (wang-ta), is rampant in Korean schools. Many of these aspects of Korean society are a result of Confucian values and pressure to conform, even when conforming entails harming others. Why else would 200 kids join forces to bully one unfortunate victim? Confucian values also explain why so many people in certain Asian countries become obsessed with certain fads, whether it is clothes, online gaming, or some other "phenomenon", often imported from the West. Again, so many people engage in the same behavior because of pressure to conform. This can have serious negative impacts on a society. Addiction to gaming and the Internet are more prevalent in Asia than elsewhere.
Another side effect of the Korean education system is chronic sleep deprivation. Combining the time spent in school, outside studying, private tutoring, and extracurricular activities, many students get less than 5 hours of sleep per night. Imagine getting less than 5 hours of sleep every single night for 10 years, in a stage of life when people need more sleep than when they are older. It's unfathomable. No wonder so many young Koreans break under the pressure.
again we see how America sees nothing but problems in anything around the world – America are the experts of every nation – They know more about Korea than the Koreans know of themselves. How many of these youths will end up in the military? What an interesting story – Not!
So, what your saying is South Korea is a neo-feudal corporate state? Nice.
Please see this news, "South Korean Teen Accused of Killing Grade-Obsessed Mom", http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/south-korean-teen-accused-of-killing-grade-obsessed-mom/480611
Not "neo-feudal", but certain Korean cultural norms make it more difficult for people to be treated as individuals with their own hopes, aspirations, needs and, yes, faults. "Nobody's perfect." Understanding that expression, and accepting people for who they are individually, is more evolved in the West than in some other parts of the world, including Korea.
Education has always being the top priority among Asian regions. This is a long tradition for many decades. The end result of this intense effort toward in education in Asia is the massive talents it generated all over the region. AS for United States, I have always telling people here, there is no worry, this is a very different place.
Look around, the world's best students are produced here, the world's best colleges are here, the world's best scientists, engineers are here. Why? because this country has a small top percent of very smart people in the population. It is this small population that lead the high bar of standard and the sources of innovation.
Yes, hard study can make average kids to be competent, but only the very smart ones can be the top tiers of the best and that's where the leaders is determined.
United States is disgraced with too many under achievers, sports lovers, but at the same time, it is also blessed with the world's best brains. We do not need too many of these, as long as we have enough of them, we will always be on top. Best of all, this is not the matter of efforts, it is simply what we have in our population.
So, folks, do not worry a thing, relax and go back to your coffee.
in VietNAM, it is the same
I'm South Korean 17 year old student, and this news report is based on the fact. Most South Korean students spend over 15 hours a day at school and sleep for only four hours. They don't have any time to relax or play with their friends because of the pressure of exams. Some even says they are living in a "hell of study". Also, Koreans are very surprised when they hear that most of US students do not go to university because it is widely thougt in Korea that going to university is necessary to everyone. They just ignore people who didn't go to university.
What? I'm a korean student and I'm a.. a.. genius! LOL
(Sorry)
Meanwhile, back here in the States, white liberal mummy and daddy are complaining because the teacher gave little Johnny or Susie homework, while the teachers union fights to keep little Jose and Shamika out of the charter schools that their parents so desperately want so their children can have a shot at the Amerikan dream, too.
And Fareed writes about the decline of Amerika.
Is the North Korean public school system unionized?
Why all the fuss? 2012 doomsday is upon us... let's partaaaaaaaaaaay!!
just how many will kill them selfs finding they failed ? what a stupid exam
I wanna climb inside a Korean girl like I would a Ton Ton... mmmm
At least there education system is thriving while ours is slowly crippling.
I don't know, but this is weird.
F1U1C1K Y1O1U
i'm a dumb n1gg3r
I NO U R
i know you are!>!>!>!>!>
Well! how about if the Americans and other developed nations start eating less? On the economist, there was a study where they showed the Americans on an average ate over 3500 Calories per day. This is obviously 1000 calories more than what over body requires, for most of us. So if we start buying less raw ingredients, the supply will increase right? Eventually, food will be provided to those in the developing and underdeveloped countries at a lower price. We waste so much food that i find it incredible; whereas, so many out there in the underdeveloped world don't get enough.
South Korea has the 2nd highest suicide rate in the world.... nuff said
and the US has the highest murder rate + drop out rate in the world...nuff said
Actually, the silence was because of that rare occurance that typicaly happens in a heavly populated room, when everybody talking loudly, but then someone says something and the entire room goes silent. It doesnt matter what that person says, theres no reason for it, but it happens...
yeah, i agree with doctor d on this on, i have lost all faith in humanity all because of u guys
Indeed, I love how americans love their educational system...which produces a 50% drop out rate. But hey we need uneducated people for manual labor
It seems every educational system has its own problems, but 50% drop out rate is very shameful.; we haven't really probed into problems of American educational system, but home schooling is getting more popular in the U.S.
fan death (wikipedia it)
i'm in south korean high school now, preparing final exam.
the south korean high school starts at 8:00 a.m and finishes at 10:30 p.m. or more in the case of other school.
u guys wil never understand...haha
so much pressure that many students sucide.
b-cuz the final exam decides ALL thr rest of our life..
we place high value on the education.
society don't accept poor scored student..we have to SURVIVE.
it sounds like joke i know.. BUT lt is real for us in korea.
hope it would be an useful imformation for those who are curious about south korean education.
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