South Korea's education system may have a reputation for success, with students ranking among the highest on international education tests, but at what price?
Se-Woong Koo, who grew up in South Korea, watched his older brother fall ill from education-related stress and pressure. For this reason, Koo's mother sent him abroad for high school, and they both saw positive changes.
According to an opinion piece in The New York Times, South Korean parents are the main source of unrelenting pressure on students to succeed at any cost. After Woong Ko studied in Vancouver, he returned to South Korea in 2008 to teach an advanced English grammar class and saw the level of stress experienced by students.
"The students were serious about studying but their eyes appeared dead," he said. "When I asked a class if they were happy in this environment, one girl hesitantly raised her hand to tell me that she would only be happy if her mother was gone because all her mother knew was how to nag about her academic performance."
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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor
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