Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea
Revised version, October 2006.
• A person who seeks to develop his or her own individuality through a well-
rounded and wholesome character development.
shifted its emphasis to the expansion of higher education. This sequence of policies
fits well into the economic development plan.
The firm belief that the rise and fall of a nation depends on the success or
failure in producing an educated people continued to drive concerned authorities in
the 1980s. When the Fifth Republic came into existence, educational reform became
part of a broad system of efforts to build an institutional basis for reforms. The
Presidential Commission for Education Reform was established in 1985 and was in
place until 1987 preparing a national plan for educational reform. In the Sixth
Republic (1987-1992), the Commission was renamed the Presidential Advisory
Committee on Education Policy. In Kim Young Sam’s civil government, the name
changed again to the Presidential Commission on Education Reform (PCER). Reform
proposals announced by these reform institutions have met with varying degrees of
success in implementation. The most recognized and substantial changes were
brought about by the current PCER, and the changes are best characterized by their
accordance with the overall social and political atmosphere of the country, which is
directed towards democracy, autonomy, openness, globalization, information and
technology.
been suitable for the mass manufacturing system and the labor-intensive industrial
structure of the past to the one that meets the requirement of the future society, overall
restructuring in the entire educational sphere has been carried out. The ‘open
education society’ and the ‘lifelong learning society’ have been sought to enable
everyone to receive education he/she wants, anywhere, anytime.
The goal of the reform is to construct a flexible education system that enables
every learner to exercise fully one’s ability and creativity and to receive education that
is suitable for one’s life plan and moment in life. Since such a goal cannot be attained
by reforming a single phase of schooling, an all-encompassing reform has been
attempted, so that all steps and areas of education (e.g., early childhood education,
elementary and secondary education, higher education, and vocational and technical
education, etc.) have been coordinated to fit the overall scheme in a balanced way.
The main characteristics of the educational reform are as follows:
The new vision is to enable citizens, industries, and the state to enjoy the
“benevolent cycle of growth and integration” through the overall reform for national
human resources development. Every citizen, with positive attitude, should endeavor
to create human resources and will be guaranteed to have the opportunity to raise
one’s ability and apply it to life irrespective of one’s sex, age, school background, and
physical condition. All private corporations should endeavor to make good use of
human resources and will be guaranteed to have opportunities to secure high quality
labor force. The state will secure the capacity to be a leader in the world history in
spiritual as well as material terms by securing abundant pool of high quality human
resource.
In order to facilitate identifying gifted children who will play a vital role in national
development, the Law for Promoting Education of the Gifted was promulgated in
2000. The Fundamental Law of Human Resource Development was enacted on
August 2002 and is designed to elevate the quality of life and strengthen national
competitiveness. It prescribes the formulation, the general management, and the
regulation of policies on human resources development to ensure its effective
promotion
The Code of Ethics for Teachers was proposed to establish an ethical code of
teachers’ conduct. It prescribes ethical codes concerning the relationship between
teachers and students, qualifications and responsibilities of teachers, teachers and their
professional organizations and the relationship between teachers and society.
The Ministry of Education was restructured in 2001, its name was changed
into the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development) and the status
of the Minister of Education was upgraded to that of the Deputy Prime Minister. The
Ministry is the central authority of education administration. It makes policies with
regard to education at the national level, and assimilates and adjusts them in co-
operation with other Ministries. It is also responsible for implementing educational
policies, and guiding regional educational bodies.
From the beginning of 1996, a School Council has operated in every national
or public primary and secondary school to guarantee the autonomy of the school’s
management, and to maximize community participation in it. Each committee is
composed of seven to fifteen members, of which 40-50% are parents, 30-40% school
staff including the principal, and 10-30% community members. Representatives of
parents and teachers are recommended for selection by direct election in their groups.
Community representatives are recommended by the principal and representatives of
the parents and teachers. The term of a representative is one year, and can be renewed
three times.
Pre-school education
Kindergartens offer diverse programmes to children aged 3-5, and the curriculum
covers physical, social, expressive, linguistic and inquiry activities. Standard
instructional time is three hours per day, but in reality kindergartens tend to offer
classes for four or more hours everyday, 180 days per year. Although early childhood
education has shown a noticeable growth since the 1980s, the enrolment rate is still
low (45% of 5-year-olds in 1997). Many kindergarten-aged children are attending
various private institutions or day-care centres that are under the control of the
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Primary education
Elementary education is free and compulsory. At the age of 6, children are informed
by the residence authority that they should apply for schooling. In contrast to the low
enrolment rate when the nation was founded, the current rate is almost 100%. Once
children enter elementary school, they automatically advance to the next grade each
year. Elementary education lasts six years.
Secondary education
Middle school education is compulsory and partially free. Here “partially” means that
only those students in rural areas and students specified under the Special Education
Promotion Act can receive the full benefit of a free education. At present, thirty city
areas and forty rural areas are specified as middle school compulsory education areas.
The length of studies is three years, and the age of pupils is from 12 to 14 years.
Elementary school graduates are assigned to schools in their residential area through a
random method. This random assignment system is applied to both public and private
schools. The middle school enrolment rate reached 99.1% in 2000.
In 1995, 96.5% of middle school graduates entered high school. Middle school
graduates are provided with an option for two tracks: general academic high school
and vocational high school. Those who are admitted to a vocational high school
cannot transfer to a general academic high school. As of 1995, the students of general
academic high schools made up 62.4% of the total high school enrolment while those
in vocational high schools accounted for 37.6%. Vocational high schools are divided
into agricultural, technical, commercial, and fishery schools. There are also vocational
schools called comprehensive schools, which offer both general and vocational
programmes.
In addition, special high schools have been established for science, arts,
foreign languages and physical education. In order to identify the scientifically gifted
at an early age and to provide them with specialized educational programmes, the
Ministry of Education founded the Kyonggi Science High School in 1983, and fifteen
science high schools were in existence as of 1996. These schools select their students
through different appraisal procedures and are allowed to do so before the screening
for vocational high schools begins. To be eligible for entrance into a science high
school, the applicants should be placed within the top 3% of students in school
achievement in their second year and the first semester of the third year of middle
school. Also, they should be recommended by the principal. There are fourteen
foreign language high schools, sixteen arts high schools, and thirteen athletic middle
and high schools. These schools are responsible for the selection of students,
developing curricula, employing teachers, and the management of financial resources
according to their own regulations.
The school year consists of at least thirty-four working weeks (thirty weeks in
the first grade of elementary education). The academic year consists of two semesters.
The first semester begins on 1 March and ends on 31 August. The second semester
extends from the beginning of September to the end of February.
Education financing in the Republic of Korea can be analyzed on the basis of its
source and distribution mechanisms. There are four main sources: central government,
local government, students and parents, and school juridical persons (i.e. private
foundations which establish and manage private schools). Grants from the central
government and tuition and fees from students and parents are the major sources for
financing education. About 84% of the Ministry of Education’s budget was
transferred to local governments (provincial offices of education) in 1995 as grants on
a lump-sum basis. Local governments distribute them to high schools and the county
offices of education, which in turn distribute them to elementary and middle schools.
In principle, each provincial office of education has its own distribution mechanism,
such as unit cost per school and per classroom.
In the funding structure of educational finance the roles of the government and
school juridical persons have been relatively limited compared with other developed
countries, although their portions of direct educational expenditure have increased
recently. The high portion of education expenditure borne by students and parents
(especially out-of-school expenditure) reflects the Korean people’s high zeal for
education on the one hand, but a school’s inability to provide various kinds of high
quality educational services, on the other. It also points to an inefficient use of the
available national resources, the heavy financial burden on parents and an aggravation
of inequality in the social structure.
The major source of financing private education is tuition and fees from
students. In terms of students, private schools account for 1.6% of primary schools,
24% of middle schools, 60.1% of high schools, and 75.1% of colleges and universities
as of 1995. The proportion of private school students is particularly pronounced in
high schools and colleges. The government enacted a law exempting private schools
from taxation in the acquisition and sales of properties related to school education and
is providing subsidies to cover shortages of remuneration of teachers and operational
costs. Loans are provided through the Korea Private School Promotion Foundation to
help private schools with expansion and renovation of facilities.
The total amount of in-school expenditure for 1994 was estimated at 18,909
billion won (about US$24.4 billion), of which 53.2% was assumed by the central
government, 2.4% by local governments, 32.1% by students, and the remaining 12.3%
by private foundations. Of in-school expenditure, the portion assumed by students was
relatively large, especially until the mid-1980s. The portion assumed by the central
government has increased since the mid-1980s, while the portion assumed by students
has decreased since 1977, indicating the central government’s effort to invest more in
education.
The share of in-school expenditure for primary school education has steadily
decreased since 1963, while those for middle and high schools have increased slightly
since 1982. It is interesting to note that in-school expenditure for kindergartens have
steadily increased since 1977 even though the actual expenditure level has been
relatively small. The share of in-school expenditure for higher education increased
from 14.3% in 1963 to 31.2% in 1982, and decreased to 27.3% in 1990, and increased
again to 30.2% in 1994. Considering the importance of a high level of technology and
science in our future society as a result of the structural change in industries and
occupations, Korea needs to adjust its distribution structure of educational expenditure
by increasing the share allocated to higher education.
In sum, governments (central and local) and students (parents) have played a
key role in providing financial resources to school education. Especially in the case of
students’ (parents’) contributions, the sum of in-school (tuition and fees) and out-of-
school expenditure accounts for two-thirds of the total educational expenditure on
average.
The Education Law articulates the goals and objectives of education at each school
level. To ensure a standard quality, Article 155 prescribes the curriculum for each
school level and the criteria for the development of textbooks and instructional
materials.
Under the sixth revision, the curricula of kindergarten and elementary schools
were promulgated on 30 September, those of middle schools on 30 June, and those of
high schools on 30 October 1992.
The Seventh Curricular Revision was called for by the Educational Reform
Committee, which was an advisory body directly answerable to the President. In its
proposal for a basic scheme of curricular reform, the Special Committee on
Curriculum under the Educational Reform Committee recommended to develop a new
curriculum. The Ministry of Education, then, commissioned the Korea Educational
Development Institute (KEDI) to undertake basic and general research for curricular
reform at the elementary and secondary school levels in March 1996. By conducting
the research commissioned by the Ministry, the KEDI has developed a measure to
improve elementary and secondary school curricula that would help the basic scheme
of the Educational Reform Committee to be harmoniously realized.
In the process, designing and policy-making for the national curriculum have
been conducted in an organic inter-connection between different parties. Curriculum-
related policies were mainly decided by relevant departments at the Ministry of
Education, while curricular design was undertaken primarily by the Curricular
Revision Research and Development (R&D) Group, mainly staffed by KEDI
personnel. The Group consisted of four teams: the first team was to develop overall
curricula for elementary, middle, and general high schools; the second was to improve
overall curricula for vocational high schools; the third was to improve overall
curricula for special purpose high schools; and the fourth was to conduct research on
the proposal of differentiated curriculum. Among them, the first R&D team played the
role of the overseeing team in charge of improving the systemic and structural
dimensions of elementary and secondary school curricula. The Research Committee
for Curricular Revision was formed for the purpose of reviewing and consulting the
process and outcome of researching and developing the curriculum together with the
Curricular Revision Research and Development Group.
With the two organizations as the main basis, Ministry personnel, KEDI
researchers, basic research team leader, other curriculum experts, school teachers, and
subject specialists gathered together and made decisions on the general scheme and
researching and developing of the curriculum for each school subjects. During the
entire process of the revision, conferences, seminars, and hearings for formulating and
reviewing the overall scheme took place over eighty times. The entire number of the
people who participated in revising the overall scheme turned out to be 4,598.
Particularly in the public hearing for reviewing the overall scheme of the new
curriculum, held in August, 1996, approximately 800 individuals participated and
presented their opinions on controversial issues.
After the public hearing, review of the proposal for the overall scheme of the
new curriculum began in November of the same year, and the revision plan was
confirmed in February 1997. Based upon the confirmed scheme and the criteria for
distributing yearly teaching hours, basic research for curricular revision of subjects
and development of an implementation plan for the revised curriculum have been
commissioned to KEDI, Korea National University of Education, Taegu University,
Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Inchon National
University of Education. In August of the same year, review of the subject curricula
was conducted, and the Seventh Elementary and Secondary School Curriculum was
announced on 30 December 1997, after undergoing several occasions of reviewing
and correcting.
Under the current system, there is an overlap in the role between the Ministry
of Education, the Municipal and Provincial Offices of Education (MPOEs), and
schools in regard to developing and implementing the curriculum. In addition, the
MPOEs are supposed to formulate guidelines for curriculum organization and
implementation without selecting any type of subject content. The main job of the
MPOEs is to execute the national curriculum in each of its regions. Furthermore, the
MPOEs construct guidelines for curriculum organization and implementation at each
school but not by school size (large, medium, small) although medium and small
schools have difficulty in organizing and implementing curriculum due to a lack of
teachers, budget, and facilities.
• to instill habits for a healthy and safe life and a balanced physical
development;
• to have pride in what one does and to develop an ability to express creatively
one’s feelings and ideas in music, dance, and painting;
• to develop the basic habits necessary for daily life and to foster a love of
family, peers, and neighbours;
As of 2005, there are 28,040 childcare centers with 972,391 children at ages 0
to 5 and over 95% of the centers including home-based play rooms (41.9%) are
private, serving 89.1% of the children at the age range. 83.3% of the centers are
located in cities and towns as only 16.6% are in rural and fishery communities. The
size of childcare facilities is rather small as 39.8% of them have less than 20 children.
National or public facilities tend to be larger than private ones as 35.4% of them have
66-91 children.
As of 2005, 541,603 children (32% of the children at ages 3-5) are attending
kindergartens. In the same year, 972,391 children (20.7% of the children at ages 0-5)
received the care service. 28.9% of the children at ages 0-2 are in childcare centers,
whereas 73.4% of the children at ages 3-5 are either in childcare centers or
kindergartens (39% and 34%, respectively). When the age increases, the combined
enrollment rates also increase as they are 62%, 70.7%, and 75.8% for 3-, 4-, and 5-
year-old children, respectively. More children, up to the age 4, attend childcare
centers than kindergartens, whereas more children attend kindergartens than childcare
centers at age 5.
targeted for young children of disadvantaged groups. Although each of the two ECCE
systems has followed its own path and development, the goals of the two systems are
now merging into one, that is, both education and care. In fact, this may be a natural
consequence in that both systems are concerned with young children, and education
and care cannot be separated from each other for the children’s benefits and
development.
Recent policy concerns for ECCE are found in the Plan for Establishment of
Early Childhood Education as Public Education presented by the Educational Reform
Committee in 1997. The reform direction in the plan includes the following three
aspects: (i) education for 3- to 5-year-old children should be included in a new public
preschool system, where education and care services are integrated and provided
together; (ii) priority should be given to disadvantaged children from low-income
families in providing an access to ECCE programs for the sake of educational equity;
and (iii) at least one-year free education before formal schooling should be provided
to all 5-year-old children so that every child has an equal start.
Primary education
Primary education is provided in elementary schools for children aged 6-11 (Grades I-
VI). The general objective of elementary education is to cultivate healthy, self-reliant,
creative and morally sound Korean individuals who will be leaders in the twenty-first
century. The goals are as follows:
• To help students develop the basic ability to recognize and solve problems in
their daily lives and to provide them with the ability to express their own
feelings and ideas in diverse ways.
• To develop basic life habits necessary for everyday living and to foster the
love of fellow citizens and country.
The average number of students per class was 36.4 in 1995, and the pupil/teacher ratio
was 29.7:1 (30:1 in 2004). The heavy concentration of the school population in urban
areas, however, has brought about overcrowded classes and oversized schools in
cities. Accordingly, the government levied an education tax to secure financial
resources for a better educational environment and to improve teachers’ socio-
economic status. As a result, the number of students per class has dropped to 35.6 in
1996, to 35.8 in 2000, and to 32.9 in 2004. Oversized schools were divided into
smaller ones and the double-shift system of classes has almost disappeared.
According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, in 2004 the gross enrolment ratio
was 105% and the net enrolment ratio was 100%.
Once children enter elementary school, they automatically advance to the next
grade each year. Almost all primary students are promoted to middle school and high
school. The promotion rate from primary to middle school was 99.3% in 1990 and
99.9% in 2003. The dropout rate at primary school is near zero and thus is not even
reported.
Secondary education
Secondary education is provided both in middle schools for students aged 12-14
(Grades VII-IX) and in high schools for students aged 15-17 (Grades X-XII). Middle
school education puts emphasis on helping students acquire basic abilities essential
for learning and everyday living, and to help students become democratic citizenship
through a successful elementary school education. Its goals are as follows:
• To enable students to attain knowledge and skills in diverse fields so that they
can actively explore their career opportunities.
Middle school graduates or those with an equivalent academic background may enter
high schools. Almost all primary students are promoted to middle school and high
school. The period of study is three years and there are several kinds of high schools
such as general high schools, vocational high schools, science high schools, visual and
performing arts high schools and foreign language high schools. Each different type
of high school has its particular curriculum. One study unit equals the amount of
school learning undertaken by a fifty-minute instruction period per week for one
semester (equivalent to seventeen weeks).
• To help students develop the logical, critical, and creative thinking abilities
necessary for the further pursuit of academics and for everyday living
The tables below show the timetable and the list of general subjects and electives in
the high school’s curriculum:
High school’s elective curriculum (Grades XI and XII): list of general subjects
and electives
In 1994, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) was 99.9% in middle school and
96.5% in high school. The promotion rate from middle school to high school was
91.4% in 1990 and 99.7% in 2003. The student/teacher ratio was 25.1:1 in middle
schools, 20.9:1 in general high schools, and 19.4:1 in vocational high schools. In
2000, the average number of students per class was 38 at middle school and 42.7 at
high school; in 2004 the figures were 35.1 and 35.7 respectively.
Higher education
Higher education institutions mainly fall into five categories: four-year colleges and
universities offering bachelor’s degree programmes, including the Korea National
Open University; teachers’ colleges; vocational junior colleges; polytechnics; and
miscellaneous schools.
In the same year there were eleven national teachers’ colleges in Korea that
train elementary school teachers. Successful students are awarded a bachelor’s degree
and a teaching certificate for elementary schools. Registration and tuition fees are
waived by the government. Upon graduation, graduates have an obligation to teach
for at least four years in elementary schools.
As of 1997, there were 155 vocational junior colleges: eleven public and 144
private. They enrolled approximately 26% of students in higher education. The most
popular fields are engineering, technology and nursing. The programmes of
vocational junior colleges are two years in length, with the exception of the
fisheries/marine colleges which offer an additional six-month course for navigation
practice, and the nursing programme which is three years in length. As of 2004, there
were 158 junior colleges, 14 national/public and 144 private. The total enrolment was
616,675 students.
Korea National Open University originates from the Korea Air and
Correspondence University founded as a vocational junior college in affiliation to
Seoul National University in 1972. It was upgraded to a five-year institution and
separated from Seoul National University in 1982. The Korea Air and
Correspondence University was renamed Korea National Open University in 1994. It
is now a four-year institution.
Polytechnics provide higher education to the working youths and adults who
missed the opportunities for higher education. There were nineteen polytechnics in
1997, eight public and eleven private.
Under the Education Law, all higher education institutions, whether national,
public or private, come under the direct and indirect supervision of the Minister of
Education. The Ministry of Education has control over such matters as establishment
of institutions, student enrolment quotas, required qualifications for teaching staff,
degree requirements, etc. With regard to other matters, universities comply with
decisions made by a consortium called the Korea Council for University Education.
In terms of the industries in which people have been employed since the mid-
1970s, the structure of the Korean economy has shifted from a primary industry-
centred structure to a secondary and tertiary industry-centred one. Demand for labour
from such primary industries as agriculture, forestry and fishery has tended to
decrease, whereas demand from secondary and tertiary industry has increased.
Demand for labour in the manufacturing sector increased significantly in the 1970s. In
the 1980s, labour demand for tertiary industries began to increase and this trend is
likely to continue for some time.
Special education
Special education is free and compulsory in elementary and middle schools, while it is
free in kindergartens and high schools. The central and local governments provide
private special education institutions with financial aid for management costs,
facilities, vocational training, teachers’ salaries and so on. Central and local
governments are responsible for providing policies for early childhood special
education, the training of teachers, and the provision and expansion of special
education facilities.
In 1997, the number of special schools was 114. Because some schools
provided educational programmes in more than one disability area, the number of
programmes offered to children with disabilities exceeded the number of schools. The
number of special schools for different types of disability is as follows: twelve are
schools for the visually impaired; nineteen for the hearing impaired; sixty-three for
the mentally retarded; sixteen for the physically impaired; and four for the
emotionally disturbed (ED).
Provision for special education in public education has increased since the
1970s. In 1974, the Ministry of Education proclaimed an enactment that every city or
district should establish one special class, and 177 special classes were then newly
established. Under the influence of the Special Education Promotion Law, the number
of elementary special classes all over the country grew to 411 by 1981. Since 1984
secondary special classes have been established, bringing the number of special
classes to 3,626 in 2,862 regular schools as of 1997.
The number of disabled children who were enrolled in special schools was
22,789 in 1997. The number of students in special schools was 1,343 in 1962; it rose
to 10,000 in 1982 and reached over 22,700 by 1997. In 2004, there were 137 special
schools for the severely handicapped with a total enrollment of 24,192 students. In the
case of the less severely impaired, 26,868 students are given education in 4,102
classes for special needs students and 19,399 classes in regular schools.
The criteria for identifying needs for special education vary according to the
definition of disabilities which a child manifests. The Korean Government has listed
eligibility criteria for special education and related activities. Special schools and
related associations carry out screening and placement tests for children who need
special education according to the identification criteria.
There are four types of curriculum for disabled students depending on their
disabilities: visually handicapped, auditory handicapped, physically handicapped and
mentally retarded. For special class students, teachers follow general school
curriculum with individual educational plans. Basic objectives for disabled students
are the same as for normal students: to fulfil their potential as much as possible and
prepare themselves for independent living after graduation from the schools. The
general curriculum consists of academic subject activities and extracurricular
activities. In addition to these general curriculum activities, rehabilitation training
activities are included in the curriculum, depending on the condition of the pupils.
Vocational training is emphasized for junior and senior high school students.
The government has recently implemented two major policy actions regarding
education for the gifted. First, the Accelerated Grade Advancement System was
introduced in 1995 according to Article 154 of the revised Education Law, which was
enacted into Law with the approval of the National Assembly. According to this
system, at the elementary school level pupils can skip a grade once during the six year
schooling (e.g. proceed from Grade I to III, Grade II to IV, III to V, or IV to VI). At
the secondary level, again only one advancement can be made (e.g. from Grade VII to
IX or from Grade X to XII). Grade V pupils can skip one year and proceed directly to
junior high school if they are evaluated to have met the educational requirements for
graduation from an elementary school. Those students in Grade VIII or XI can skip
the last year at school and proceed directly to high schools or colleges.
In 1996, twenty-five elementary schools, sixteen middle schools and four high
schools have adopted an accelerated grade policy. More schools wanted to adopt the
policy (forty-four elementary and four junior high schools in the case of Seoul) but
gave up due to parental opposition. As a result, only a small number of schools (eight
elementary and two middle schools in Seoul) implement an accelerated grade system.
Parental opposition may have arisen because the gifted students were distinguished
from the other students, pointing them out, as it were, as special and different, in a
society which traditionally does not condone such differentiation. Moreover,
accelerating some students and not others causes problems with grade point averages.
In accordance with the Law for Promotion of Education of the Gifted of 2002,
schools have identified and educated gifted, creative, and talented children in order to
produce highly competitive human resources. The Ministry of Education has striven
to support the metropolitan and provincial offices of education for promoting gifted
education geared to local circumstances in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan
in Promoting Gifted Education. The government also has a policy to increase the
number of institutions for gifted education, develop an organizational and
administrative supporting system for gifted education, establish an infra-structure for
gifted education, and develop a plan for evaluating gifted education institutions.
Private education
According to the Private School Act (1963), private schools are established to pursue
their own educational concepts and goals. Article 1 declares the “improvement of
private schools with their own specificity is to be made by securing their autonomy
and public responsibility.” Here, specificity implies the characteristics of private
schools that differentiate them from public schools, expressed in a variety of
education endeavors which would serve their own educational concepts and goals.
Autonomy refers to an autonomous selection of students and curricula, and self-
governing in school management. Public responsibility means that private schools
should be regarded as a public institution and should have public functions.
Specificity, autonomy, and public responsibility are three major characteristics of
Korean private education from a legal perspective.
The current middle and high school admission policies were implemented in
order to eliminate the excessive competition among students trying to enter a higher
level of school, especially a prestigious school. However, these policies severely limit
the specificity and autonomy of private schools. In the current admission procedure, a
student is designated to a school, which can be public or private, through lottery
assignment in most large cities. Insofar as it prevents autonomous student selection, it
has become a critical obstacle to the realization of individual private schools
educational concepts and goals. It also means financial insolvency for some private
Private institutions of higher education are also under the control of the
Ministry of Education, especially with respect to decisions on enrolment quota and
procedures of the entrance examination and admission process. Government control
has weakened the autonomy of individual institutions and has given rise to ineffective
competition rather than to constructive co-operation among higher education
institutions. Acknowledging the problem, the government announced a new policy on
college admission, to take effect in 1997. Private colleges and universities will be
granted full autonomy with respect to student admissions.
The textbooks compiled within the framework of these curricula are classified
into three types. The first type is the national one being authorized by the Ministry of
Education. Most textbooks at the elementary level belong to this type. National
language (Korean), moral/civics, and national history textbooks for the secondary
level also belong to this type. The second type is inspected and approved by the
Ministry of Education. Textbooks for arts, English, mathematics, science, etc. belong
to this type. The third type is recognized as relevant and usable in schools by the
Ministry of Education or by superintendents of municipal and/or provincial
educational authorities.
Project for educational “informationization” has been put into practice since
the early 1990s: computers began to be supplied to schools at all levels, particularly to
elementary and secondary schools starting from 1992 as a preparatory step to meet the
challenges of the twenty-first century.
The school lunch programme has been expanded gradually and almost all
primary and high schools have been providing school lunch since 1998 and 1999,
respectively. In case of middle schools, 57% of the schools are providing school lunch
in 2000. For students from the economically disadvantaged families, the government-
funded school free lunch programme is underway, benefiting 164,000 primary and
secondary students (approximately 2% of the total enrollment).
• In-service training. There are various in-service training programmes for civil
servants and industry workers. The human resource development programme
for civil servants has been reinforced recently. In-service training programmes
for civil servants are provided by forty-six professional institutes at the
national level.
Teaching staff
T
There are three paths to becoming a certified teacher. One is to graduate from a
professional teacher training institution, such as a national four-year teacher college
like the Korea National University of Education, or a department of education in a
university, where teaching certificates are conferred upon graduation. The second path
is to take obligatory education courses in a university and obtain a teaching certificate,
which is offered to only 30% of those enrolled in the course. The third path is to
graduate from a graduate school of education.
To become a certified secondary school teacher, one can choose from three
different paths. One is to graduate from a college or department of education in a
four-year university. There are sixty-four of these institutions in the country, and
about 47% of secondary school teachers certificates are granted through these
institutions (data refer to 1996). The second path is to major in a subject area
designated in the National Curriculum Framework and take required education
courses at a regular four-year university. There are 111 institutions of this type,
accounting for 46% of all pre-service institutions for secondary school teachers. The
third path is to graduate from a graduate school of education.
The average annual salaries of elementary school teachers are higher than
those of government employees at class seven, but lower than those in the public
sector and private industry. The salary differences increase until the age of 40-45 and
decrease thereafter. Employees in private companies earn 14% more than elementary
school teachers to start; 22-24% more at the age of 30-40 years, 31% more at age 45,
29% more at age 50, and 15% more at age 55. A similar pattern is found with
elementary school teachers and employees in the public sector. This suggests that
mid-career teachers are the worst-off. This salary difference between teachers and
employees in the private sector has, in part, been the factor causing a higher ratio of
female to male in teaching positions than that in other occupations.
References
Korean Council for College Education. College education in Korea. Edition 2005–
2006. Seoul, 2005.
Meesook Kim and Jung Na. Early Childhood Care and Education in Korea: National
Policies and Practices. Korean Educational Development Institute. Paper submitted to
UNESCO Beijing Office as the situational analysis study report, June 2003.
Web resources
Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development: http://www.moe.go.kr/
[In Korean and English. Last checked: October 2007.]
For updated links, consult the Web page of the International Bureau of Education of
UNESCO: http://www.ibe.unesco.org/links.htm