Tag: Education

It will be interesting to see how this federal lawsuit plays out because right now universities are allowed to discriminate against another minority Asian-Americans because they are too smart:

The Education Department on Tuesday dismissed a complaint against Harvard University by some Asian American groups who say the university uses racial quotas to keep out high-scoring Asians.

The complaint was filed in May with the department’s civil rights office by more than 60 Chinese, Indian, Korean and Pakistani groups. Education officials said the complaint was dismissed because similar concerns were the focus of a federal lawsuit.

The complaining groups said they were “very disappointed.”

Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were sued last year by some rejected applicants who want affirmative action policies banned. The Harvard lawsuit also contends the university specifically limits the number of Asian-Americans it admits.

Harvard said its admission policies have been found to be “fully compliant with federal law” and said it “has demonstrated a strong record of recruiting and admitting Asian-American students.  [Korea Times]

The findings of bullying in the military is not surprising, but criticizing South Korea for limiting the political activity in the classrooms by their teachers?  Does the State Department believe that South Korean teachers should have the right to teach pro-North Korean and anti-US propaganda to their students?:

An annual human rights report released on June 25 by the US State Department cited violence in the military and restrictions on political involvement by government employees and teachers as problem areas for South Korea. The department’s Human Rights Report for South Korea rated it as a country that generally respects human rights, but included the two new areas in addition to previous concerns about the National Security Law. “The primary human rights problems reported were government interpretation of the National Security Law, libel laws, and other laws to limit freedom of speech and expression and restrict access to the internet; the continued jailing of conscientious objectors to military service; and bullying and hazing [of new recruits] in the military,” the executive summary read. The mention of bullying and hazing in the military appears to be a reference to incidences such as the death of a private first class surnamed Yun in Apr. 2014.

“During the first half of the year, the Ministry of National Defense reported 37 suicides among military personnel, generally attributed to bullying, hazing, or inability to adjust to military life,” the report said. In regard to punishment in libel cases, the report mentioned the indictment of former New Politics Alliance for Democracy floor leader Park Jie-won after allegations that President Park Geun-hye used a “non-official system” to choose appointees. In terms of press freedoms, the report mentions the indictment of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun’s Seoul bureau chief for defamation over allegations about President Park’s whereabouts during the Apr. 2014 Sewol ferry sinking. While the State Department’s 2013 report had only mentioned restrictions on labor rights and interference with striking rights as problem areas, the latest report notes that “[r]estrictions on workers’ rights, including freedom of association and assembly and limitations on political engagement of public servants and teachers, were also problematic.”  [Hankyoreh]

You can read the rest at the link.

There is no doubt that when it comes to schooling in South Korea the competitiveness between teenagers can reach extreme levels to include high rates of suicide.  This latest scandal is just another example of some of the negative affects of the hyper competitiveness with education in Korea:

Two weeks ago, a South Korean “math prodigy” made headlines across the country after claiming that she had been accepted into two prestigious American universities, Stanford and Harvard.

Kim Jung-yoon, a senior at Thomas Jefferson high School for Science and Technology in Virginia, rose to fame after media reported that the top-tier universities had competed to recruit her to their undergraduate programs and ended up creating a special shared program only for her to study at both schools.

According to the reports, the 18-year-old girl secured a rare chance to study at both schools and choose where to graduate from. Kim showed acceptance letters from the schools to back her claims.

Kim was featured on radio talk shows while her father contributed to the hype by conducting interviews with local news outlets.

The reports on Kim’s achievement sparked envy among Koreans who have been living in a climate where admission into top universities is seen as key to elevating their social status.

But about a week later, her whole story was unraveled, with both Harvard and Stanford universities denying the acceptance of the Korean student. The universities confirmed that there was no such joint program allowing a student to study at both schools, calling the acceptance letters provided by Kim forgeries.

Kim, who appears to have masterminded the whole furor herself, immediately went from being idolized to ridiculed, with her father apologizing last week for causing a stir and promising to take care of her mental health.

Putting aside the reason behind her scam, the scandal appeared to leave a bitter aftertaste here, as it bluntly illustrated the country’s avid obsession with academic elitism and a competitive media industry prone to lapses of judgment.

A 28-year-old student said he could sympathize with her as he understands what it feels like to fail to enter top-tier universities and to be treated like a “loser” in Korean society.  [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link, but the teenager came up with the lie initially probably to get her parents off of her back, but the dad then publicized it in the media.  If he had not publicized it then this would have just been a family issue when the lie would have eventually been exposed.  So the adults, the dad and the journalists who ran the story are more at fault in my opinion than the teenager.  You would think before publishing a story the journalists would have picked up the phone to call the universities to make sure the claims are accurate.

As far as the over competitiveness within the Korean education system; I think it is better than what we see in many US schools where there is an extreme lack of educational competitiveness from both the kids and the parents.

I’m not sure what this teacher’s group is complaining about?  Do they want bribery and corruption in the teaching profession?:

The country’s largest right-leaning education organization on Thursday denounced an order issued this week by the Seoul education authority that strictly prohibits teachers from accepting bribes from parents, otherwise known here as chonji.

On Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education issued a press release announcing that bribery would not be tolerated in any form and that any person who reported a teacher accepting gifts or cash would be given a reward ten times the amount of the kickback, up to 100 billion won ($89.4 million).

The Korea Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) subsequently requested that Seoul Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon apologize for publicly regarding all educators as “potential perpetrators,” arguing that teachers already attempt to foster a morally sound atmosphere.

“Given that teachers are required to have a relatively higher level of morality, we’ve been making efforts to create a more transparent culture by establishing an ethics charter in 2005,” KFTA Chairman Ahn Yang-ok said at a rally Thursday morning in front of the capital city’s education office. “The overall majority of teachers are not accepting chonji at all.”

“But the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has issued provocative press releases saying they would discipline even those who accept 10,000 won and have disgraced all teachers,” he continued. “Cho must apologize and come up with countermeasures.”

The Seoul’s education office explained that when it announced the new regulation, it merely intended to reassure parents so that they wouldn’t agonize over bringing in a gift for their child’s teachers.

The new regulation also demands that schools not disclose the home addresses of its teachers and send text messages to parents explaining that bribery will not be allowed. Educators are only allowed to accept gifts that do not exceed 30,000 won and only at public events like Teachers’ Day or graduation ceremonies.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

This looks like a good idea since the kindergartens are focusing on teaching mixed race children the Korean language and culture:

The Ministry of Education said Tuesday that it will run 30 kindergartens nationwide specifically for children from multiracial families.

The ministry will select six kindergartens each from Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, South Jeolla, South Gyeongsang Provinces and Seoul – which will receive 7 million won ($6,200) this year for making programs dedicated to multiracial children.

The selected kindergartens won’t be required to teach multiracial children only, but they have to develop and run additional programs that can help them develop their Korean language skills and social identity.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

This probably does not come as much of a surprise to most Korea watchers that Korean students are very stressed out in regards to their studies:

Korean kids are the most stressed about their studies in the world, a study reveals.

A whopping 50.3 percent of Korean kids are stressed about their studies, the highest proportion among 30 countries surveyed, according to an analysis by Kim Mi-sook of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

Relatively high stress was also recorded in Spain (49.4 percent), Slovenia (48.9 percent), and Portugal (47.2 percent). The least stressed kids were in the Netherlands (16.8 percent), Hungary (18.4 percent), Slovakia (19.1 percent), Austria (20 percent), and France (20.8 percent).

Only 18.5 percent of kids in Korea said they are “very happy” at school. Korea comes fifth from the bottom after Estonia (9.2 percent), Italy (14.8 percent), Finland (15.3 percent), and Czech Republic (17.3 percent).  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

There is no place in the classroom for teaching pro-North Korean propaganda and hopefully this teachers were all fired from their jobs:

Four teachers received suspended jail terms Friday after a Seoul court found them guilty of engaging in pro-North Korea activities.

The four, who are part of a progressive teachers’ union, were indicted in February 2013 on charges of holding two lectures endorsing North Korean ideals from January 2008 to May 2009. The lectures, prosecutors said, took place in front of prospective teachers and fellow members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, the country’s second-largest teachers’ union.

The four were also charged with the possession of original North Korean texts and the distribution of excerpts from a memoir by North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in violation of the National Security Law.

The law bans any activities meant to praise, promote or propagandize North Korean ideals.

The Seoul Central District Court found them guilty of these charges and gave them 18-month sentences with a two-year stay of execution.

“The court finds them guilty of possessing documents that praise North Korea’s ‘songun’ and ‘juche’ ideologies,” Judge Cho Yong-hyeon said in a ruling, referring to the North’s military-first and self-reliance philosophies. “It is inappropriate for South Korean citizens, let alone teachers, to have such documents in their possession.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but for those that don’t know the Korea Teachers’ Union has been filled with North Korean propagandists and sympathizers for years.

Bad news for native English teachers in Korea if this comes into law because it would reduce the number of English teaching jobs available in Korea:

Some 100 owners of private English institutes across Korea gathered in Seoul, Tuesday, to protest the government’s plan to ban native teachers from working at so-called English language kindergartens.

This comes after the Ministry of Education announced the plan last week as part of its efforts to help households reduce spending on private education.

Such institutes for children are often called English kindergartens, although they are not registered as under the law. With intensive English programs, they usually charge about double the cost of other kindergartens.

The ministry is now collecting opinions about the plan before making a final decision.

Members of the Korea Association of Hagwon said that the new policy not only hurts children’s ability to improve their English, but also violates parents’ right to choose the way they educate their children.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but the plan to ban native English teachers is supposed to reduce the costs of sending children to English hagwons.

When it comes to these exams the Koreans have definitely set the standard for cheating on them.  This seems to happen every year:

Some students in two Asian countries likely cheated on the SAT exams administered in October and November of this year, the Educational Testing Service has confirmed.

In October, scores were withheld from residents of South Korea and China as ETS, which administers the test worldwide, investigated possible cheating on the exam administered that month. Following a review, the firm determined that “a small number of test-takers had an unfair advantage on the test,” ETS spokesman Thomas Ewing told The Huffington Post on Monday. “ETS is contacting directly these test-takers to inform them that valid scores cannot be provided.”

Citing confidentiality concerns, Ewing declined to say how many scores were invalidated but noted that “the majority of scores” are valid.  [Huffington Post via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that the SAT had to be cancelled last year in Korea because of widespread cheating.

How come I am not surprised by this news?:

Two years ago, when Mrs. Lee’s 20-year-old son was found to have lied on his college application papers and later got expelled from his university, she was furious. But she wasn’t angry because he had acted immorally; rather, she was more upset because, in her mind, it was useless to blame him for something everyone else did, too.

“In Gangnam, everyone does this,” Lee reportedly told police. “Why is he the only one getting in trouble?”

Further investigation proved that her son, surnamed Sohn, also had an accomplice – his teacher.

When authorities looked into the case, they found that Sohn had received an undeserved award in an art competition for a piece he hadn’t created. His teacher switched the boy’s name with another student and submitted the work on Sohn’s behalf.

His teacher recommendation letter also included details of volunteer work he had never completed.

Sohn applied to college in the early admissions process, which assesses an applicant’s transcripts, extracurricular activities, academic awards, volunteer work, recommendation letters and grades.

In Korea, regular admissions normally evaluate applicants’ scores on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a standardized exam held every November. Thirty-five percent of the seats available at local colleges next year will be chosen via regular admissions, while the remaining 65 percent will be selected through early admissions.

One in every four early admissions slots will be determined through criteria similar to that which determined Sohn’s admission. But if Sohn’s case is any indication, university officials are mostly helpless to verify certain information, and similar fabrications often fly under the radar.

“There’s really not much we can do but believe whatever documents were authorized by the high school,” said one university admissions officer, who asked for anonymity. “It’s hard to tell which paper was fabricated when you have students and teachers collaborating in the scheme.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but probably most disturbing about this is that the teachers are helping the students to lie on the applications.