SCHOOL IN KOREA

All I can say is...Korean kids are probably twice as smart as American kids...why do I say this? 

Because after having a conversation with a girl in her junior year of high school...I'm convinced.

(I took these pictures on a Saturday afternoon)

Public high schools here require uniforms, so you will see these groups of girls (and boys) in their uniforms all over Seoul.  But that's not what makes them so smart...

Many Korean schools have class on Saturday's..can you imagine? But that's not what makes them so smart...

Based on the conversation I had with this girl, this is why:

1. School starts at 7am and ends at 5pm

2.  She attends 9 classes a day

3.  She attends school every Saturday

4.  Every exam is essay and critical thinking...no multiple choice
5.  They begin studying English as early as Kindergarten, but definitely in Elementary School

6.  She says she goes to school, goes home, eats dinner, studies often past midnight, and then does it all over again the next day - she does this 6 days a week!

The university a South Korean high school graduate attended is perhaps the single most important factor in determining his or her life chances. Thus, entrance into a prestigious institution is the focus of intense energy, dedication, and self-sacrifice. 



Because college entrance depends upon ranking high in objectively graded examinations, high school students face an "examination hell", a harsh regiment of endless cramming and rote memorization of facts that is incomparably severe. 

Because tests given in high school (two times each semester) are almost as important in determining college entrance as the final entrance examinations, students have no opportunity to relax from the study routine. According to one contemporary account, a student has to memorize 60 to 100 pages of facts to do well on these periodic tests. It's not uncommon to see students walking home from their studies at very late hours (still dressed in their high school uniforms). Family and social life generally are sacrificed to the supreme end of getting into the best university possible.

Examinations are very serious times of the year and they change the whole pattern of society. Businesses often start at 10 am to accommodate parents who have helped their children study late into the night and on the evenings before exams recreational facilities, such as tennis clubs, close early to facilitate study for these exams.

I don't think I would have done so well in Korean public school...I didn't do so well in American public school!