Koreans have traditionally placed great importance on education
as a means for self-fulfillment as well as for social advancement. Modern schools
were introduced in the 1880s. With the founding of the Republic of Korea in
1948, the government began to establish a modern educational system, making
the six years of elementary school attendance mandatory in 1953. Today, Korea
boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world, and it is a well recognized
fact that Korea's well-educated people have been the primary source of the rapid
economic growth that the nation has achieved during the past three decades.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development is the government
body responsible for the formulation and implementation of educational policies.
The government provides guidance on basic policy matters as well as financial
assistance. The financing of education is centralized, and government funding
constitutes the largest component of school budgets.
"Don't even step on the shadow of your teacher," an old saying goes, reflecting
the degree of respect for teachers in the traditional Korean society. While
many changes have taken place in the education system, teaching remains a sacred
job. Koreans share strong enthusiasm for education and this national trait has
served as the main factor contributing to economic development and political
progress in recent decades.
Pre-Modern Education (4th-19th Century)
Since the Three Kingdoms period, monarchical governments set up their respective
state-run central educational institutions devoted to teaching the Confucian
classics to aristocratic youth. The main purpose of the institutions was to
prepare the young elite for government posts. Among these institutions were
"Daehak" (National Confucian Academy) of Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C.-A.D. 668),
"Gukhak" (National Confucian College) of the Unified Silla Kingdom, "Gukjagam"
(National University) of Goryeo Dynasty, and "Seonggyun-gwan" (National Confucian
Academy) of the Joseon Dynasty. Regional schools, such as the "Five Course Academy"
and the "Sahak," which were located in the capital, as well as the "Hyanggyo"
(County Schools) in provincial areas, served as local educational institutions
in the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties.
Private schools were also active in ancient times. The Twelve Assemblies and
the Seowon came along during the Goryeo and Joseon periods and their level of
education was recognized as equal to that of the state institutes mentioned.
Other educational mechanisms, such as Yanghyeon-go, a Goryeo era scholarship
fund, and the Joseon era academic institutions and libraries, such as Jiphyeonjeon
and Gyujanggak, made significant contributions toward academic pursuits and
achievements in their periods.
For commoners, schools such as the Gyeongdang of the Goguryeo Kingdom, taught
martial arts and Chinese classics. Gyeongdang schools, in particular, evolved
later into more popular academies nationwide, known as Seodang (village study
halls), which continued to proliferate and spread until the late Joseon Dynasty
period. Their primary service was to provide elementary-level education to villagers
and their children. Even after Korea adopted a more modern national education
system in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Seodang continued to serve as important
regional education facilities for the nation.
Advent of Modern Education (1880-1945)
By the late 19th century, the Joseon Dynasty shifted its policy from isolation
to an open door to learn from the modern Western educational systems and provide
the new elite with knowledge needed to achieve national development.
It was in this period that Korea saw its first modern schools established. The
English School (1883) and the Yugyeong Gongwon (1886-94) were among the first
such institutions, founded by the government. Along with them came the private
schools, including the Wonsan Academy (1883) and the Christian missionary institutions,
like Baejae School (1885) and Ewha Women's School (1886). The foundation of
the Wonsan Academy was particularly noteworthy because it was set up at the
initiative of local residents of a newly opened port city out of their patriotic
fervor.
The edict issued by King Gojong in 1895, dubbed Gyoyuk ipguk joseo, further
set the momentum for national consciousness for modern education. In the edict,
the king stressed the need for new national educational programs centering on
the values of wisdom, virtue and health. He took the occasion to emphasize education
as an indispensable instrument for fostering national leaders and achieving
national prosperity.
It was in this spirit of the edict that modern-era private schools, including
elementary, teachers, and vocational schools, began to be built and multiply
across the capital and the nation. Patriotic leaders, in particular, made great
endeavors in building new schools across the nation, as part of their patriotic
movement to fight off the onslaught of Japanese imperialism at the turn of the
last century. In short, the nation's modern education began in the period when
the nation strove to overcome a national crisis on the strength of education.
The development of modern education in Korea, however, was disrupted by the
Japanese invasion and annexation of Korea in 1910. A national Korean education
system was unable to flourish for the next 35 years, as Japan adopted harsh
colonial educational laws, like the Joseon Education and Private School Guidelines,
with the aim of enforcing its compulsory indoctrination policies in Korea. In
the 1930s and 40s, when Japan fiercely pursued aggressive policies toward the
Asian Continent, Japan took on a much tighter and more stringent policy of "assimilation,"
seeking to turn Koreans into subjects of the Japanese emperor and as part of
its scheme to exterminate the national identity of the Korean people and their
culture. Under the policy, Korean students had to repeat every morning the pledge
of allegiance as "subjects of the Japanese emperor," study Japanese history
and speak only in Japanese. They were further forced to abandon their Korean
names and assume Japanese style ones. In short, education during this period
was nothing but a tool for Japanese colonial policies, hence qualitatively inferior.
The Korean fervor for education, however, kept growing among Korean families
that moved to China, Manchuria, the United States and Russia seeking freedom.
Ethnic Koreans in these countries focused on training a new generation of national
leaders and raising Koreans' awareness of the importance of national independence.
Meanwhile, students and intellectuals inside Korea fought hard to promote enlightenment
through education in the face of Japanese oppression. In protest of Japanese
colonial education, they organized secret meetings and launched student movements,
while opening night schools for workers and farmers.
Post-Liberation Period (1945~)
Korea's liberation from Japan in 1945 marked a turning point in the history
of education. As the country underwent a transition from totalitarianism to
democracy, the primary concern was to provide equal educational opportunities
for all. The period from 1945 to 1970 witnessed a dramatic expansion of educational
opportunity. In spite of the widespread destruction and economic hardship brought
on by the Korean War, the nation succeeded in virtually eliminating illiteracy.
Such a rapid expansion of educational opportunities was naturally accompanied
by problems, the most serious being the deterioration in the quality of education.
As the 1960s drew to a close, however, Korea's educators turned their attention
to these problems and several projects were launched to improve curriculums
and methods of instruction. Most notable was the abolition of the middle school
entrance examination in 1968. Until that time, little children were forced to
study subjects tested in the entrance exams. The severe competition to enter
some reputed middle schools in the early stage of life disrupted balanced personality
education. The Charter of National Education was promulgated in 1968. It sought
to establish a balance between tradition and development as well as between
individual needs and the needs of the nation.
The 1970s marked a period of rapid modernization. Education played a vital role
in the process of national economic development by providing high quality human
resources. Technical education in particular was increasingly stressed. Of all
the innovative efforts made in the field of education in the early 1970s, the
Elementary and Middle School Development Project undertaken by the government
was of particular importance. The project's goal was to improve the quality
of elementary and middle school programs through the revision of educational
objectives, curriculum and teaching methods. Under this project, competition
for entering high school classes was abolished by stages in order to normalize
middle school education, which had largely been focused on preparations for
high school entrance examinations.
At the same time, efforts to improve higher education were also made with long-term
goals in mind. The Higher Education Study Committee was formed in 1972 to analyze
the problems and needs of university education and to formulate a development
plan. This led to the introduction of pilot programs aimed at strengthening
professional training in select institutions. The aim was to better prepare
college students for a fast-changing industrial and technologically oriented
society.
Another important change during this period was the emergence of new forms of
education, such as "correspondence schools." Such institutions were primarily
aimed at providing young workers and adults of all ages with the opportunity
to receive high school or college education without actually having to attend
regular classes.
The year 1980 saw the successful implementation of a bold educational reform
policy: the abolition of the then widespread private tutoring, which had been
one of the most controversial issues in education because of the high cost involved.
In accordance with this policy, the government began from 1981 to offer a nationwide
examination for all high school graduates wishing to attend college or university.
The scores from this written test, combined with students' high school records
would determine the admission of qualified students to colleges or universities
of their choice. The system also prohibited individual colleges and universities
from conducting their own entrance examinations.
To better prepare young people for the challenges of the future, Korean education
in the 1990s began to place emphasis on "human education" based on the quality
education of the 1980s. New laws for the promotion of local autonomy were legislated
in March 1991, and educational district offices were set up at the provincial
level. In order to offer a more liberal high school education and extend more
autonomy to universities, a new system for the college admissions test, or College
Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), was announced in April 1991, and it was implemented
in 1994.
The government set up and ran the "Commission on Educational Reform for New
Korea." The Commission, on September 5, 1994, reported to the President 11 educational
reform measures, including increasing the education budget, strengthening the
international competitiveness of university education, and promoting the autonomy
and accountability of private schools. In an attempt to form the base for the
"New Korea and New Education" system, the commission announced on March 31,
1995 reform measures to establish the New Education System in preparation for
the age of information and globalization.
The Kim Dae-jung government inaugurated in 1998 continued the educational policies
initiated by its predecessors. The government tried to maintain consistency
in educational policies, and establish and implement new educational measures
to cope with the new challenges and social change. As part of the effort to
continue educational reform, the government on July 24, 1998 established the
Presidential Commission for the New Educational Community, an advisory organ
to the President. The commission reviewed and assessed the progress of educational
reform, offered additional training and retooling under the program, and encouraged
civic movements to support reform efforts. The commission carried out changes
in schools and local communities by forming educational communities led by teachers,
parents and citizens' associations and by promoting bottom-up educational reform
that was grounded in the realities of student needs and available resources. |