Academics
South Korea's academic environment is extremely competitive. Korean society regards getting into a prestigious university as a prerequisite to success. Most of a student's career is focused on admission to such universities, although this attitude has shifted in recent years. Nearly all of the nation's top schools (both high schools and universities) are located in Seoul, inviting criticism that rural areas face structural disadvantages. Rural students undergo hours of daily commute if admitted to a Seoul school.
Secondary school systems are single-sex or co-ed, and some are specialized by academic field. While public schools typically specialize in a particular technical skill (e.g. engineering), many private schools specialize in the arts. The three most prestigious universities are the SKY universities: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. Admission to these schools, as well as to Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, and Pohang University of Science and Technology is extremely competitive. In more specialized fields, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Kyunghee University and Hongik University are renowned for their foreign languages, oriental medicine and art schools, respectively.
Most parents send their children to private academies, hagwons (학원), as early on as kindergarten. These institutes teach a variety of subjects, ranging from the study of Chinese characters to music, art and English. The hagwon industry has become well known for charging high tuition fees and for fraud. A typical high school student attends 2 or 3 different types of these academies.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of South Korea
Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)