Why is our Korean Educational System blamed by ourselves?

Most of the students living in South Korea consider their studies extremely stressful. Approximately, 40% of Korean High-schoolers sleep under six hours a night, which is not enough to refresh our brain. As students enter High-school, everything needs to be focused on their college entrance exam ‘Sunnung’ which is taken every November. On the day of ‘Sunnung’, during English listening period, planes are even controlled, restricting departures and arrivals.

Having the opportunity of equal education, being able to gain vast knowledge is really positive in a way, but the problem is that a lot of students are forced to do this by their parents or situations around them.

My experience of attending a regular High-school in Korea for two years before moving to a international school here in Vanuatu was also challenging. Students who have been educated through Korean curriculum from Elementary and Middle-school had solid understanding and knowledge for maths, having quick and accurate mental arithmetic. Having my primary education in New Zealand, I mostly played all day long having very little study time. Studies were very simple attracting our interests. For English task, teacher tend to give out short stories, asking us to rewrite/paraphrase the story into our own words.

We have known for several years that these educations are stressful and not beneficial all the time, but the majority of parents still carry on leaving their children into stressful education. Now is the time to make a movement developing better environment for students to study, making themselves investigate what can be interesting to them. This would be a sustainable way of gaining knowledge, keeping students motivated.