The Search for a Remedy for South Korea’s Education Fever

(This column is written by BerkOp's English columnist Lily Kim.) 

It's the time of the year again for college entrance exams in South Korea. While we would have hardly called the SATs a life or death situation, the college entrance exam seems to be the determinant of life or death *literally* in South Korea. BerkOp's newest English columnist Lily Kim scrutinizes this merciless South Korean education system in search of a solution to the suicide march in Korea.

Source: http://www.choosehelp.com/depression/teen-suicide-risk-factors-and-warning-signs.html

Back in 2009, President Barack Obama praised the Korean education system: "Our children -– listen to this -– our children spend over a month less in school than children in Korea every year. That's no way to prepare them for a 21st-century economy." [1] He went on to say that “teachers are known as nation builders” in South Korea, and that America should learn from Korea. [2]

But should the Korean education system really be admired and emulated? I think not.

Don’t get me wrong-– the education system in Korea has definitely produced some outstanding results: South Korea stands 2^nd next to Finland in Pearson’s global education rankings of 40 developed countries. [3] Not only that, it stands first in reading and math and third in science according to the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by OECD. [4]

 

Furthermore, OECD’s Education at a Glance report showed that 72% of Korean students enter college (2011), and that 98% of Koreans aged 25-34 graduated from high school (2011). [5]

 

So, then, what’s the issue with the Korean education system?

 

Let’s first take a look at the average daily schedule of a Korean high school student:

Source: http://pann.news.nate.com/info/252218953

 

As shown above, even after school ends, Korean students must stay behind and attend ‘yaja,’ or mandatory hours of independent studying and reviewing. Not only that, they also attend cram schools and therefore complete their homework when they get home late at night, which leaves them little time to sleep-– only to go through the same routine again the next day. Compared to the average schedules of the US, China, and Japan shown on the right, Korean schedules seem considerably more demanding.

 

The competition culture in Korea along with its emphasis on the value and importance of education contribute to academic stress. In a winner-take-all society like South Korea, students can do nothing but study, study, and, you guessed it, study. Academic performance is the only means by which they are judged and evaluated by the hostile and merciless eyes of Korean society, which explains why low grades are so devastating for Korean students. In this society that is so obsessed with rankings and getting ahead of others, South Koreans invest more money per capita on cram schools (hagwons) than 29 other OECD countries. [6] Attending ‘yaja’ time and multiple cram schools on top of school leaves South Korean adolescents with no time to sleep, exercise, or spend time with family and friends. This inevitably builds up more stress, and it doesn’t help that going to a counselor or otherwise seeking help is still considered taboo in Korea.

 

The pressure to go to a good college is pretty much universal in most developed countries, but South Korean adolescents experience this pressure on a whole new level. The college entrance exam is such a huge event in South Korea that there are even police escorts and anti-noise measures implemented, and churches and temples are packed by parents praying for their kids on the day of the exam. This is the day that their 12 years of hard work finally materializes, so it is no wonder they feel so overwhelmed and burdened. To add to the pressure, if the students fail to get into the university of their choice, they may choose to take another year (or two) to study and retake the test.

 

Not surprisingly, many adolescent suicides seem to occur in the months before and after the test. In 2011, a student, A (19), who had failed to get into the university of his choice and was studying for a retake, committed suicide on the day of the exam. Unable to handle the stress and anxiety, he had decided to end his own life by jumping off a building, only leaving behind a note that said “I am sorry”. On the same day, B (19), was found dead on his apartment porch. B is believed to have come out of the exam feeling depressed, which led him to take this irreversible path. [7] This so-called ‘수험생 자살 현상,’ or test-taker suicide phenomenon, demonstrates the paramount impact the college entrance exam has on South Korean students.

 

Adolescence is a sensitive and comparably unstable time of physical and emotional changes, and studies show that adolescents are more likely to act on their impulses. However, many South Korean adolescents do not get the essential support and encouragement they need during this time from their family or friends; instead, they are treated as studying machines, and their friends are considered as rivals. When Korean students fall short of their parents’ high expectations, they blame themselves. In a culture in which obedience and honor for the family are so important, they feel like they are not good enough. Having internalized these values, they can only have such harmful thoughts when their parents push them to the edge (pun intended).

 

Suicide, not traffic accidents, is the leading cause of death for South Korean adolescents, at about 13 per 100,000 persons (2011), and I think it is clear that the education system in Korea has played a significant role in these unpleasantly high numbers. [8]

 

It is now too well-known that suicide is a serious problem in South Korea. Nicknamed ‘자살공화국’ or the ‘Suicide Capital of the World,’ South Korea has remained #1 in suicide among all 34 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries since 2004.

 

In just ten years, the suicide rate in South Korea doubled from 14.1 per 100,000 Koreans in 2000 to 31.2 in 2010. This translates to one suicide every 33 minutes and 42.6 suicides daily. [9] Following this trend, adolescent suicide rate also increased by a whopping 57.2% in ten years. [10] Despite the first decrease in suicide rate last year in 6 years (28.1 per 100,000), South Korea still remains at the top, with a suicide rate nearly 3 times that of the US and over 2 times that of the OECD average. [11]

 

According to Statistics Korea, the age group that experiences the most impulses to commit suicide (i.e. have suicidal thoughts) is adolescents (ages 13~19), and the main reasons for these impulses are academic-related. [12] Not only that, 1 out of 10 adolescents admit to having had suicidal thoughts at least once over the course of the year due to stress resulting from school, family discord, or financial hardship. [8]

 

Since its establishment in 1948, South Korea has developed rapidly, earning its title as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Only 65 years later, South Korea has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, ranking 15^th by nominal GDP and 12^th by PPP. [13] However, this modernization serves to put immense pressure on our adolescents to keep up with the restless society we live in.

 

It is true that South Korea is standing here today thanks to the highly competitive atmosphere that stimulated advancement and modernization. Taking a look at this graph from the 2013 OECD Factbook, however, it is clear that South Korea used to have one of the lowest suicide rates before it got “rich, wired, and worried.” [6] Today’s prosperous and thriving Korea seems like a much better place to live in, but these statistics show otherwise. It is not surprising that we rank among the lowest in the Happiness Index, at 32^nd out of 34 OECD countries. [14]

 

Source: OECD Factbook 2013: Economic, Environmental, and Social Statistics

 

Today, we are so caught up by everything that is going around us; I don’t even live in Korea and I sometimes feel overwhelmed by how fast-paced Korea is. How can we keep a healthy balance between studying and spending time for ourselves? Striving to do our best is, needless to say, a good thing, but pushing ourselves over the limit can result in tragedy, as many have showed us.

 

I believe that educational reform is the first step to youth suicide prevention in South Korea. The system itself, as well as a society that promotes excessive competition and overemphasizes academic success, seems to be the root of the problem. Sociologist Emile Durkheim predicted that “suicide in a particular group [is] an indication that the social cohesion of that group [is] weak, and that its members [are] no longer protected during personal crises”. [15] South Korean society seems to me the epitome of this lack of solidarity. Koreans are so caught up with competition and being “better” than others that they leave no room for support. Nonetheless, it is difficult to survive in such a society by going against the system alone. South Korea as a whole must recognize the core of this issue and work to break the ‘survival of the smartest’ mindset, and change the overall atmosphere into a friendly and supportive one.

 

It is also important to get people to think differently about success– however cliché it may sound, being happy is success in and of itself, even more so than achieving academically or having a high-paying job. In addition, an effort must be made to reduce the stigma associated with psychiatry; seeking counseling is not an indication of weak self-will, but rather, a sign of courage and a strong will to live.

 

Though measures have been taken to combat the rise in suicide rates, there have not been any major changes yet. While South Korea seems to recognize the gravity of this issue, it has not yet provided an applicable or effective solution. Recently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced its aim to establish preventive measures through psychological autopsy, a term coined by suicidologist Edwin S. Schneidman. Psychological autopsy seeks insight into the minds of those who commit suicide by analyzing them and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. [11] Though this concept is just beginning to find its place in South Korea, I genuinely hope that it will help save our future generation.

 

1.      http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/03/113_41066.html

2.      http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/03/113_83117.html

3.      http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading

4.      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/best-education-in-the-wor_n_2199795.html

5.      http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance_19991487

6.      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/17/AR2010041702781.html

7.      http://www.healthmedi.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=25838

8.      http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/585601.html

9.      http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/09/10/2012091001326.html

10.   http://media.daum.net/society/newsview?newsid=20130911033505989

11.   http://media.daum.net/society/newsview?newsid=20131005045305190

12.   http://www.sisafocus.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=73746

13.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Korea

14.   http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/07/113_114805.html

15.   http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/index2.htm