Beyond the Seneung: The brilliant, brutal reality of South Korean education

One morning in mid-November, the South Korean nation falls silent. Flights are grounded to keep the skies quiet. Police motorbikes are on standby, ready to escort late-running teenagers through the traffic. This is the morning of the Seneung, an eight-hour college entrance exam that defines a Korean student's 12-year school journey.

To western observers, this intense ritual is often seen as a cautionary tale of a high-stress, "pressure cooker" culture. The reality I saw while living in Korea is more nuanced. The same, hyper-disciplined environment that has drawn criticism over the stresses it places on pupils has also contributed to an economic miracle, transforming South Korea from a war-torn nation into a global superpower.

To truly understand South Korea's education system, we have to consider the nuances of Korean society. We must explore a world where families strive for the top 1% of grades in a class, where teachers are highly-respected professionals and where late-night cram schools, known as hagwons, form a multi-billion dollar industry and illuminate the evening skyline.

The bright side: education as a national superpower

During my five years in Korea, one of the first cultural shocks I experienced was how highly teachers are regarded. In Korea, the word for teacher, 'seonsaengnim' carries an inherent weight of respect. (It is also frequently shortened to 'Sam', which confused me for about 6 months, as I thought the students had given me a nickname!) Teachers are viewed as pillars of society and teaching is a highly competitive profession, offering prestigious positions.

To understand why teachers are regarded in this way, you have to understand Confucian ideals, Korean history and where South Korea started.

Korean society has been heavily influenced by the teaching of Confucius. Under Confucian doctrine, a teacher is a moral guide and a facilitator of character development. Confucius pioneered the doctrine of teaching without classification, educating anyone willing to learn, regardless of social class. Students are expected to demonstrate respect, diligence, humility and obedience towards teachers, showing gratitude for the guidance that teachers provide. These things are all evident in the way that students speak to teachers, and I experienced them from when I arrived in Korea.

Following the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest countries on Earth, almost devoid of natural resources. The government decided to invest in its people as a resource, building an exceptional public school system and cultivating a literate, mathematically brilliant generation that propelled South Korea to being a leader in electronics, engineering, shipbuilding and manufacture.

Seoul is sometimes refereed to as the 'Miracle on the Han River'

The public school system was designed to be a social equaliser. Children in rural and urban areas were guaranteed high-quality schools, committed teachers and opportunities to develop. Programs like English Program in Korea (EPIK) aimed to place a native speaker teacher in all schools, lessening the need for private education. Korea operates a five year teacher rotation system, aimed at preventing schools from monopolising teaching talent, regardless of their location and the wealth of attending families. Inequalities persist, as evident in the clamour to attend schools in Seoul's wealthy Gangnam area, but students across Korea are guaranteed high-quality facilities and committed, well-trained teachers.

The Korean education system offers students amazing opportunities to better themselves and obtain roles in world-leading companies. Success is the result of grit, hard work and determination. However, the power of these opportunities has also created intense competition, as success is often defined by fine margins. To get ahead, families are forced to enter an educational 'arms race' and they look to the hagwon system.

The shadow reality: entering the parallel universe of hagwons

Walking around the streets of Seoul or Busan at 10:00pm, you will witness a mix of employees returning home, people leaving bars and restaurants and children boarding yellow buses as the hagwon curfew takes effect. These children have left school at 4:00pm, attended two or three different hagwons (from the words 'hag' = study and 'won' = room), eaten some Korean street food and are now returning home for dinner and to complete their homework. It is not uncommon for Korean children in middle school to go to bed at around midnight.

To understand why hagwons are so embedded in Korean society, you have to understand the role of the Suneung exam.

Because the state school system functions so effectively and study is so highly regarded in Korean society, basic maths and literacy skills are almost universal. As such, the margins for success become incredibly fine, with one mark on a test potentially meaning an entire percentage rank. Dropping a mark can lock students out of the prestigious "SKY" universities (Seoul, Korea and Yonsei Universities), precluding them from working for the top Korean companies such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai, and affecting social standing.

As the stakes are so high, study in public schools is rarely seen as enough. Children continue their study after school in hagwons, drilling test questions, knowledge, vocabulary and grammar. Some of the material covered in hagwons is years ahead of what is being taught in schools, creating situations where children enter school classrooms having already learned the content the teacher has prepared under the curriculum.

Some teachers are considered 'star lecturers', passing on techniques for helping children ace the Seneung exams in return for high private tuition fees. This is sometimes considered to be a 'shadow tax' on families, with parents desperate to ensure their children don't fall behind. The pressure is also felt by children, who become increasingly stresseed during the school year. Sociologists are now pointing to the pressure of Korea's education system as being a contributing factor to the county's low birth rate.

The modern shift: humanising the system

There is an active, passionate conversation taking place in Korea on how to protect the mental health and creativity of the younger generation. The South Korean government has initiated major reforms to shift the focus from rote memorisation to creative education, curiosity and well being.

One significant reform has been the 'Free Semester' system (Jaku-hakgu-je). For one full semester, standard mid-term and final exams are completely eliminated. Instead, the daily routine changes completely. Students spend their morning on core subjects and their afternoons practising hand-on, creative activities. This includes robotics, culinary arts, theatre or exploring future career interests.

More recently, the government has taken steps to address the hagwon industry's grip on the Suneung by banning so called 'killer questions'. These were complex, university-level logic and maths questions hidden inside the high-school exam. Because public school teachers were restricted to the school curriculum, preparing for these questions was exclusively the domain of hagwon lessons. The Ministry of Education is again trying to level the playing field, giving fairer opportunities to lower income families and giving children back aspects of their childhood.

Lessons from the Korean system

My five years living in Korea also taught me that there is a beautiful cultural belief present in Korea's education system, that every child, through grit, determination, focus and humility, supported by dedicated and talented teachers has the power to transform their own destiny. Korea's education system is built on incredible respect for educators and a national commitment to progress.

The lesson South Korea offers the world isn't that we should copy their competitive hagwon system. Instead, Korea serves as a case study for when a society values education above everything else. Teachers are viewed as experts, guides and mentors who are driven to improve society as a whole. Schools are well maintained, well equipped centres of community learning, offering a universal basis for learning and self-development. Gradually, Korean society is taking steps to maintain its drive for improvement, while removing some of the pressure felt by children and families, particularly in less affluent areas. If we can emulate the Korean drive for success and maintain children's balance and happiness, we can learn from Korea's fascinating education evolution.

Korean education has preserved Korea's unique history and heritage, while transforming the nation into a leader of technology and innovation