Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Busan to see young students on the subways or buses in the middle of the night, groaning
under the burden of a bag full of textbooks.
The cramming reaches a fever pitch in high school (
godeunghakgyo
), which has three
grades that take students about age 17-19. Studies are intense and often cover nearly a dozen
subjects to prepare students for the university entrance tests at the end of their stay—the
entire high school experience is colloquially referred to by some as “examination hell” and
is associated with some serious social problems, such as South Korea's high rate of teen
suicide. There is some variety available in high schools in terms of programs and curricula,
with institutions that specialize in areas such as arts, science, or technical education. The
government and educators have strained in recent years to reduce the emphasis on testing
and private tuition, with limited success.
Foreign residents of South Korea are free to send their children to local schools in their
area. For elementary schools, parents can apply to the school directly with the child's alien
registration certificate, but middle and high school applications have to go to the nearest
municipal education office, which will decide on placement.
Due to concerns about language and integration, the majority of expatriates send their
children to international schools. Seoul and Busan have the highest number, but there are
schools with international programs throughout the country, with many more coming onto
the scene in recent years as the country gears up to support a larger and broader foreign
population. While the majority of international schools follow the U.S. system and prepare
students for American colleges, there are also schools offering the international baccalaur-
eate, and others that follow British, Chinese, Japanese, French, or German curricula. Many
schools have religious (mainly Christian) roots, but most are accepting of all faiths and al-
low parents to opt their children out of bible or religious classes if they prefer.
Major international schools have large, relatively diverse student bodies made up of ex-
patriate children and “returnees,” or children of Korean descent who hold overseas citizen-
ship. The government generally bars locals who don't have foreign passports or haven't
spent extended periods abroad from attending international institutions. Educational stand-
ards are generally very high, and the staff is mainly made up of certified teachers from
Western nations.
About the only disadvantage of international schools—and it's a big one—is cost.
Tuition rates start at around 10 million won per academic year for kindergarten and rise
quickly until at the high school level most parents are paying well over 20 million won per
