In South Korea, students push back

There's a very interesting and disturbing article in the IHT this morning, about the pressure put on Korean students to do well in school. Their family's honor and their whole lives seem to depend on the level of excellence they must achieve in their studies and now students are rising in protest.

Choe Sang-Hun who wrote the article, gives the example of a student who wakes up at 6 am to be at school at 7.20 and doesn't get home until 1.30 am the next morning because of after-school classes and tutoring.

In the last 5 months, at least five teenagers have committed suicide. "And a rally, the first public protest in recent memory by South Korean students, who are known for their obedience, was held against the nation's education system".

Choe Sang-Hun writes:

"For weeks, thousands of first-year high school students have flooded the ministry's Web site with protest messages.

A spontaneous campaign emerged as teenagers networked through the Internet and cellphone text messaging. The protest spread so quickly that the education minister, Kim Jin Pyo, sent a letter to 1.5 million teachers and parents last week by e-mail, apologizing for the uproar and defending his new policy."

emily | 10:38 AM | SMS and Students |
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