The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea

UN Secretary-General Commission Meeting

Chi Nguyen
Arizona State University

GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017
 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Today I would like to address Status of Education in the Republic of Korea.

Since the split of Korea in 1950s, Korea has been struggling with its governmental

structure. Since then Korea has become a very strong independent country thanks

to many influences from the West. The three global initiatives stated by the UN

Secretary-General Commission and the World Bank are put every child in school,

improve the quality of learning, and foster global citizenship (Global Education First

Initiative, n.d.) (South Korea Overview, n.d.). Due to these guidelines Korea has

focused on education as its forefront in creating global citizenship in every child,

despite the political struggles we face.

Korea has a strong legacy that links a desire for success to high educational

standards. Sorensen believes this is true stating East Asian Confucian culture has

provided [specifically South Korea] with high levels of social capital in the form of

strong family structure and norms of frugality, hard work, and a high valuation of

education (Sorensen, C. W., 1994). Korea has a strong sense of family structure and

believes that education is the key element in society and that it even determines

social status among families. The first initiative, put every child in school, is Koreas

first priority. Programs like Head Start help enable students who are

developmentally delayed improve language and other skills into their education.

Additionally Korea allocates resources and services to smaller high-needs

populations such as students with disabilities to allow them to get a proper

education. In figure 1 we can see the variety of schools, high tertiary gross

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

enrollment ratio, and 5% of Koreas GDP spending is on education. This promotes

education as a core in society of Korea allowing every child to not be left behind.

The Republic of Korea takes pride in improving quality of learning this is

shown by figure 2 where the pay starting pay of teachers is higher than the OCED

average and increases dramatically after ten years. With this Korea can ensure

proper pay for teachers and administration to incentivize proper education for

future students to come. Schools are constantly being improved and evaluated

based on a Ministry of Education evaluation plan, which sets directions and

standards (South Korea: System and School Organization, n.d.). While, in figure 3,

Korea is allocates less resources to schools, as seen in figure 4, we can see that

Koreas continue support for high standards has put Korea well above OCED

average. This is due to Korea incentivizing teacher to pursue a title of Master

Teacher, which entitles effective, seasoned teachers to a small monthly stipend in

addition to their normal salary (South Korea: System and School Organization).

Besides a desire to improve the quality of learning, Korea also fosters

students as a global citizenship. This is due to the structure of Koreas school system

(see figure 5). After the lower half of secondary school, ages 12-15, students

undergo an entrance exam in order to go to either an academic or vocational high

school, additionally students can also participate into a global internship. Schools in

Korea have a relationship with businesses to help prepare them to actively

participate in the workforce and the economy. Additionally Korea also allows other

students around the world to participate in Koreas education, this promotes global

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

sense and helps them learn about other cultures and how they are different from

Korea.

How is the Republic of Korea actively put every child in school, improve the

quality of learning, and foster global citizenship? Korea does this by allocating

resources to students, schools, and teacher, setting high standards for not only

students but also teachers alike, and prepares students to become global students.

As our world continues to progress these initiatives are important to help students

grow and progress. If the world takes even a part of what Korea has been doing

successful we would see a growth in academics and a more wholesome global

citizenship.

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Figure 1: South Korea: Country and Education System Vital Stats

We can see the number of schools in Korea and amount of GDP spending on
education.
Clark, N. (2013, June 01). Education in South Korea. Retrieved November 04, 2017,
from https://wenr.wes.org/2013/06/wenr-june-2013-an-overview-of-
education-in-south-korea

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Figure 2: Ratio of Lower Secondary Teachers Salary to GDP Per Capita (2015)
We can see that teachers are given high standards for their salary.
South Korea: Teacher and Principal Quality. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017,
from http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-
teacher-and-principal-quality/

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Figure 3: Annual Expenditure by Educational Institutions per Student for All

Services
This chart shows Korea has a lower spending per student for all services but we
have seen that it does not seem to be a burden on quality of education for students.
South Korea: System and School Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017,
from http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-
system-and-school-organization/

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Figure 4: PISA 2015 Mean Scores by Country for Reading, Mathematics, and
Science
In this chart we can see that Korean students have a very high PISA score compared
to other countries.
South Korea Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from
http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Figure 5: The Structure of South Koreas Education System

This chart shows the flow of students as they grow and continue their education
into adulthood.
South Korea: Instructional Systems. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from
http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-
instructional-systems/

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 The Status of Education in the Republic of Korea
Chi Nguyen
GCU114-77865
November 4, 2017

Sources:

Education Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from

http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/overview

Education System in South Korea. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from
https://www.classbase.com/countries/South-Korea/Education-System

Global Education First Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/global-education-first-initiative-
gefi/

Kim, W. (2014, April 13). Head Start, Pyeongtaek University introduce newcomers
to Korea. Retrieved November 04, 2017, from
https://www.army.mil/article/123967/head_start_pyeongtaek_university_intro
duce_newcomers_to_korea

Sorensen, C. W. (1994). Success and Education in South Korea. Comparative

Education Review, 38(1), 10-35. doi:10.1086/447223

South Korea Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from

http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/

South Korea: System and School Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017,
from http://ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-
benchmarking/top-performing-countries/south-korea-overview/south-korea-
system-and-school-organization/

South Korean Education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2017, from

http://asiasociety.org/global-cities-education-network/south-korean-education