South Korea's education system is six years in primary school, three years in middle school, three years in high school and four years in university. This is the influence of the infiltration of American education aid program after World War II. Until 1996, primary schools were called ethnic schools, but due to various problems, 1996 was changed to primary schools.
The entrance examination in Korea is very difficult, although it doesn't start from kindergarten like Japan. In fact, there is only one entrance exam in Korea.
This is the result of1leveling policy implemented from 1960s to 1980s. Let's take a look.
In 1960s, due to financial and economic problems, middle schools in South Korea could not implement compulsory education. However, most students have a desire for further studies, and the entrance examination is not simple, which leads to after-school tutoring. Teachers are lecturers in cram schools, and students are concentrated in first-class schools.
In order to solve this problem, district system was adopted, but the first-class schools in the school district with concentrated students appeared again. From 1969, the government began to consider the "equalization policy"
The leveling policy cancels the entrance examination for public and private schools, and the schools are decided by lottery. The cancellation of the first-level school and the transfer of facilities to high schools have cooled down the entrance examination for secondary schools.
At the same time, the same problem appeared. The senior high school entrance examination began to heat up. In 1974, the government adopted the same approach to senior high schools.
Therefore, in fact, there is only one college entrance examination in Korea. Of course, it is very important. Extra-curricular tutoring and cram schools taught by college students or high school teachers are constantly promoting the warming of the senior high school entrance examination. Tough measures have been taken against these governments, such as dropping out of school as a tutor, suspending classes and canceling teachers' qualification certificates. The cram school has been cancelled. So, now the life of fresh graduates in Korea is roughly like this:
Get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, prepare for classes at 8 o'clock, have formal classes at 9 o'clock to 4 o'clock in the afternoon, make up lessons at 6 o'clock, and then 10 have dinner for self-study. Many students go to cram schools or libraries after self-study.
After entering the university, many male students who finished the second and third grades joined the army, which widened the age gap between school students. Although it is only a unique phenomenon in Korea, I hope my young strength can be used in other fields, not in the military.
The situation of entrance examination in Korea
Although the equalization policy is being implemented, the entrance examination in South Korea is still difficult.
Although there are no key schools in senior high schools, there are still key universities. The three first-class universities in Korea are Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University, and Ewha University is the most famous among women's universities.
There are some special customs in any country. Now introduce some Korean customs about the entrance examination.
You can't drink seaweed soup on the morning of the exam, because kelp is slippery and has the meaning of falling behind. Instead, you should eat rice cakes and hard candy.
In addition to eating such rice cakes and hard candy, parents also came to the university gate to paste on the day of the exam. In Korea, rice cakes and hard candy are symbols of graduates. From the day before the exam 100, the junior students in the school began to give it to the graduating students.
In addition, you should drink the so-called "100 wine" before the exam. Recently, giving away rings and forks has become popular. I hope the students can talk about the key points of the exam.
Educational content in Korea
Because of the entrance examination, Chinese, English and mathematics are the most important Chinese subjects in Korea, including literature, grammar and Chinese. Although Korea and Japan belong to the Chinese character circle, the government has advocated using only Korean letters since the 1980s. Nowadays, Chinese characters are used less and less in Korea, so education does not attach importance to Chinese characters.
In Korea, English is the first foreign language. From middle school, you can choose a second foreign language. Boys choose German, while girls choose French. Some schools offer Japanese. In commercial high schools and industrial high schools, the proportion of Japanese is higher. High schools in Korea are divided into ordinary high schools, commercial high schools, industrial high schools and agricultural high schools. Commercial high schools are for girls and industrial high schools are for boys.
Korean textbooks are stipulated by the state, and some subjects have only one textbook, such as ethics and history (Korean history).