The Korea Herald

Korean siblings become valedictorians at top Turkish university

Jun 19, 2016

Two South Koreans have graduated at the top of their classes at the prestigious Bilkent University in Turkey.Kwon Tae-young and his little sister Min-ah were awarded Bachelor's degrees in interior architecture and environmental design, and graphic design, respectively, at a ceremony held last Saturday.The older Kwon says he decided to study in Turkey when he was preparing to re-take South Korea's college entrance exam in 2011.He convinced Min-ah to come with him to the country where their father
One out of five elementary schools has less than 10 new students this year

Jun 13, 2016

One out of every five elementary schools in the country has less than 10 new students this year due to a decrease in the number of children, education ministry-related data showed Monday.According to the school information website under the ministry-affiliated Korea Education and Research Information Service, 1,395 elementary schools in the country accepted less than 10 first year students. This is equal to 22 percent of the 6,218 elementary schools checked. The drop is attributed to the low bir
ACT exams canceled in South Korea, Hong Kong over breach

Jun 12, 2016

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Operators of the ACT college entrance exam on Saturday canceled the tests for students in South Korea and Hong Kong at the last moment over what they said was a verified breach of test materials.The cancellation affected about 5,500 test takers who will receive refunds of test fees, according to ACT spokesman Edward Colby, who said the company believes it was the first time the exam was canceled for an entire country. (123rf)The ACT, an Iowa-based nonprofit organizati
Ministry to increase support for non-English langauge teaching

Jun 2, 2016

The government will provide financial support to universities that teach foreign languages other than English in a bid to diversify their curriculum, officials said Thursday. Designating a total of 53 languages as “special foreign languages,” the Education Ministry said it would shoulder the cost for training programs and internships of students learning them at universities designated “special foreign language education institutions,” starting from August. The ministry selected 12 languages fro
Korean children start English education before turning five

May 31, 2016

South Korean mothers have their children start learning English before they turn five on average, an age some admit is probably too early, a survey showed Tuesday.Yoon's English School, a company that runs a chain of English language schools across the country, asked 466 members of an online mothers' community between May 25-29 and found that their children started learning English at an average age of 4.8. The survey said24.9 percent started at age 6, 21.7 percent at age 5 and 14.8 percent at a
Jeju global campus official eyes profit turnaround in 2018

May 16, 2016

International schools in Jeju Island's English campus town have fairly well served their original mission of providing an alternative to early study abroad, but more institutions and students from diverse backgrounds are needed to make it Asia's next education hub, its operating unit's chief said.The 1.78 trillion won ($1.51 billion) education project called "Jeju Global Education City" landed on a 3.79 million square-meter complex on the southern resort island. Jeju Free International City Deve
Level of education to be deleted from public officials' personnel records

May 9, 2016

South Korea's government said Monday that information on the level of education will be deleted from public officials' personnel records starting this month in a bid to promote a merit-based personnel management system. The Ministry of Personnel Management said information with low relevance to duty, such as academic background, height, weight and marital status, will be deleted from the personnel records. Still, the officials' college majors will remain recorded.The ministry has finished modify
Alcohol, civilian clothing permitted for cadets outside schools

May 2, 2016

The nation's military, naval and air force academies have decided to allow their cadets to wear civilian clothes and drink alcohol when they are off campus, authorities said Monday.A military official said the three academies have revised school regulations banning cadets from wearing civilian clothing and drinking liquor last year and have been implementing the new rules since March this year.But those cadets who are younger than the legal drinking age of 18 still cannot drink alcohol or wear c
Boys less affected by video games if close to dad: research

May 2, 2016

Students’ academic performance are less affected by video games if they are close with the parent of the same gender, according to research published by a Yonsei University’s sociology team onMonday. Led by professor Youm Yoo-sik, the team conducted a survey on 5,220 male and female students attending middle and high schools. (123RF)The research was based on the average time the students spent playing games and the level of their self-assessed addiction on a grade of one to five. The games inc
Number of Korean students in U.S. falls 7.8 percent

May 2, 2016

The number of South Korean students studying in the United States fell about 8 percent in March on-year, U.S. government data showed.According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, Korean students with either F-1 or M-1 visas totaled 78,489 in March, a 7.8 percent drop from last year.Korean students accounted for 6.6 percent of all foreign students in the U.S., and were the third-largest group after China's 353,069 students and India's 194,438 students, the data showed.Japanese studen
Korea to cut class size of high schools

Apr 25, 2016

South Korea will reduce the size of high school classes to match international standards as part of an effort to provide a better educational environment, the government said Monday.Under the envisioned plan, the class size of an average high school will be reduced to an average of 24 students by 2022 from last year's 30, the Ministry of Education said.Also, the ratio of high school students to teachers will be cut from 16.6 to 13.3, according to the plan.The plan is in line with standards set b
[HERALD INTERVIEW] 'Industries of the future require endeavors across disciplines'

Apr 12, 2016

Research institutes should provide opportunities to complement traditional department-based structures with multidisciplinary institutes to better tackle societal challenges amid the rapid growth of new-generation industries and various global challenges, said a president of one of France’s most prestigious science-oriented public institution. Jacques Biot, the president of Ecole Polytechnique“Mathematics and computer sciences tend to fertilize every other area, as research becomes increasingly
[HERALD INTERVIEW] 'State's role crucial for ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship

Apr 12, 2016

The government’s support plays a crucial role in building an innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem in the science technology industry, said a head of Israel’s leading college and an expert in psychophysiology of sleep disorders.“The government’s support is essential to transforming the discovery driven from the basic science research into practically applied products, and thereby, boosting the innovative entrepreneurship,” Peretz Lavie, president of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Isr
College chiefs explore future of innovation

Apr 11, 2016

KAIST hosts annual international research university forum on entrepreneurship, challenges and future
Gangnam academies caught running illegal classes

Apr 10, 2016

Approximately 30 private education institutes were found to be running illegal late-night classes, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Sunday. SMOE ordinance regulates classes for teenagers to be provided only between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Yonhap)However, when the government body ran a check on 487 institutes in the Gangnam district on Thursday, 30 were found to be running classes outside of the designated hours.The identified institutes will have demerits imposed on them and