한국 교육의 문제점

한국의 최대 약점은 공교육이 잘못됐다는 점일 터이다.

아마도 자유당 시절부터

"교육 정상화의 지름길은 문교부를 없애는 일이다"

라는 말이 유행해 왔다.

답은 다 알지만 해결되지 않는다.

참고삼아 어떤 외국인 학생의 소감을 아래에 붙인다.

필자가 맡은 Korean Economy 과목의

기말시험 문항에 대한 덴마크 교환학생의 답안이다.

(저작권자의 동의를 얻음. <C> Mikael Gade Pedersen 2016)

Exam question. What do you think of the public education in Korea?

                           What is the right way of educating the young?

Answer by Mikael Gade Pedersen from Denmark 

           In general, I think the education system is too harsh in Korea. I see several issues in the Korean education system, and the most important one is being unable to be young and make mistakes. You from a very early age are forced to focus on nothing but good grades, so you can into the best university and thereafter get the perfect job. But what you do not have time for is finding out where you fit in society, because the herd mentality tells you, what you should aspire to do and what is expected of you.

I believe a society functions best when everyone, first has time to be a kid, and second is able to make mistakes and still be accepted into the society. The all-out focus on the best grades from a very early age also hinders the creative thinking in the society. Maybe if the focus on university from such an early age weren’t so prevalent, people would realize that there are other options in life than working for the Government or Chaebols. This could also foster growth in a section of the Korean economy which hasn’t been doing too well, entrepreneurship.

I believe that a more diverse education system is the way to go, because there are after all other means of making a living than being educated from the top university. And once you open the doors to not being so narrow-minded, you are also able to see new opportunities. So, the person taking a university education, could have a mind able to think of the next great invention in a more down-to-earth profession. But, because he/she has been told to study all through school, the time to actually ask oneself whether what is right for everyone else, is also right for that person, never really existed in the first place. And in a society where you are not encouraged to go different ways, you end up with over qualified people to the more basic jobs and a lack of new thinking that’s going to push the economy forward in decades to come.

And a striking thing I didn’t understand was that the universities here in Korea only have one ranked in the top 50 in the world, even though the student score very high in standardized testing. What this tells me, is that focusing on these tests doesn’t do anything besides giving a country a confidence boost, and what one should be focusing on is what is best for the country and its citizens.

The suicide rates among young people in Korea is frightening, and I assume most of this is related to the not being able-to-fail part of the young generation. Speaking to Koreans here and taking your class, it just feels very brutal and like a place where there is only room for the best, but there should be a place for everyone in this world, and people should be able to find themselves and be kids while they can.