By Oh Jung-hun
The article by Dan Paul Rose issued on Dec. 1l under the headline, “A sad option” impressed me much. As he mentioned, it is true that Korea's suicide rate among teenagers has regrettably surpassed that of any other country.
Alarmingly, among many reasons pushing Korean teenagers toward suicide, is a unified, competitive educational system, “suneung” (College Scholastic Aptitude Test), which is a highly stressful ordeal for sensitive underachievers because their scores becomes the critical criterion for university entrance.
I wholly agree with his criticism and diagnosis. Fortunately, unlike the selective ways of previous days, a large number of universities, for better or worse, currently offer applicants a diversity of opportunities to apply for university entrance fit to their own competence or aptitude.
Undoubtedly, it makes them mitigate the burden of examination, but imposes other pressure on them, forcing them to prepare for additional forms of test such as nonsul (an essay test), oral tests, collective debate, a strict preview scrutinized by entrance inspectors and a close interview by professors. The majority of applicants must exert much effort to generate a proper portfolio and scores as well as to prepare for every passage, which every university has informed them of how to recruit.
Likewise, a few oversensitive and smart students, including zealots or aspirants targeting more prestigious universities, spend more time going to private institutes.
On the one hand, they practice many simulated specific knowledge tests to attain better scores. On the other, they try to enhance their nonsul technique, which is also a major evaluation.
As time ticks by, the urgent need to attain a high score grows more pressing. What is worse, the suneung test, a form of multiple choice exam has become easier over the last few years.
In addition, the problems of taking the test have been examined within textbooks and programs from the Education Broadcasting System. These highlighted points may make students more alert but also more stressed. If a smart student makes even one mistake during an exam, his or her result will radically drop. The stress students face during suneung is at a peak.
To enter universities, many Korean high school students have no choice but to adapt themselves to strict conformity for three years from dawn to midnight. One pitiless adult regards this as a rite of passage before going out into the world, but others regard it as an outrageous ordeal for young students.
In fact, all kinds of educational activities, from after-school classes to extracurricular activities, voluntarily or involuntarily, are focused on gaining access to a prestigious university.
There appears to no longer be any deeper educational benefit beyond perfecting test strategies or superficial skills. While reading a book or solving problems, students tend to cease the exploration of elementary questions such as “why” or “how.” This is the surface value of Korean education and examinations that Korean students understand well.
Unfortunately, a few marginalized students whose lack of confidence may seriously suffer from these dehumanized systems are driven into a corner. There is nothing to fall back on, only depression to fall into, and then ultimately, the appalling choice to commit suicide. This type of examination only serves to increase score productivity and has remained a system that is stuck in the mud for more than half a century.
Many young children go to many private institutes to learn piano, taekwondo, English, painting and mathematics. However, it seems that their learning is only to acquire superficial skills, hardly appreciating what music is and how to enjoy it. From pre-school days, many children begin learning how to become the winner of a piano contest, a taekwondo championship, an English speech contest, or a math Olympiad.
It seems that this never-ending story of becoming winners or losers will continue forever.
The writer teaches at a girl’s high school in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. His email address is dicaprik@hanmail.net.