The Korea Herald

Park renews call for correct history education

Dec 15, 2015

President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that history should be taught "correctly" for young South Koreans in what could be the latest move to advocate for state history textbooks."I think history achieved by our elders should be taught correctly in order for our country to leap forward," Park said during a luncheon she hosted for the elderly at Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office.The invited guests included those who turned 100 this year, aged residents of foreign countries, and retire
Textbook controversy spills over to selection of authors

Dec 15, 2015

With the government postponing the announcement of the criteria for government-issued history textbooks for the third time Monday, the dispute over the selection of authors fueled the debate over the plan that the Park Geun-hye administration had vowed to keep transparent.The National Institute of Korean History, in charge of the publication process of the history textbook, is unclear on when it will reveal the criteria, the Education Ministry said. The NIKH initially was slated to make the anno
‘Liberal arts education translates into better jobs’

Dec 7, 2015

With South Korean youths struggling to get jobs amid the worsening employment rate, the nation’s higher education trend has been shifting toward practical courses like finance and engineering and away from liberal arts, which many job seekers have dismissed as irrelevant to their future careers. But Smith College president Kathleen McCartney believes otherwise. The head the leading liberal arts college in the U.S. stressed that what students learn through flexible curriculum provided by the libe
Backlash intensifies over bar exam retention

Dec 4, 2015

The government’s decision to delay the abolishment of the state-run bar exam has stoked vehement opposition, as students from 24 of 25 law schools in Korea agreed Friday to hand in dropout letters and refused to attend classes.　The University of Seoul Law School, one institute which did not participate in the movement, held a general meeting later in the day to discuss the matter. 　“The Justice Ministry broke its promise in 2007 to abolish the bar exam, which is a nearsighted decision that is ag
Gov't to sponsor unification education at universities

Dec 4, 2015

The government plans to choose a handful of universities to lead education on inter-Korean reunification, a Unification Ministry official said Friday.The ministry will allocate 1.8 billion won ($1.56 million) to the new project under next year's government budget plan passed by the National Assembly on Thursday, according to the official. The project was not originally part of the budget plan."We plan to receive applications from universities in the first half of next year and then choose three
‘Seoul private schools run illegal English lessons’

Nov 30, 2015

Some private elementary schools in Seoul are breaking relevant laws by giving uncertified English lessons to young students, a local civic group said Monday.World Without Worries About Private Education, a group campaigning against excessive private education, investigated the curriculum of 39 privately-run elementary schools in the capital and found that most of them regularly hold English classes for first- and second-graders. As per the law, schools are prohibited from teaching English to fir
Ministry keeps textbook review committee under wraps

Nov 30, 2015

The Education Ministry said Monday it has confirmed 16 members of the review committee for secondary education history textbooks, but refused to disclose the members, stoking further opposition against the process it had originally vowed to keep transparent.According to the ministry, the committee will be entrusted with the task of reviewing the finished textbooks based on governmental criteria and has the right to demand revisions if the book falls short of standards “in an independent and a ne
George Mason Korea head sees bigger role for colleges

Nov 23, 2015

Songdo-based university offers unique education based on diversity, field experience, Lee says
Number of kids studying abroad falls 63% in 8 years

Nov 17, 2015

Yoon Jeong-sik, a 30-year-old who has studied in the U.S. for half of his life, has struggled to find a job in Korea. Having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy from a state university in California, Yoon has remained unemployed for almost two years since finishing his mandatory military service.　“I thought the applicant like me who speaks fluent English and has work experience would have little trouble getting a job in Korea,” said Yoon. 　He applied to more than 30 compan
Number of overseas Korean students continues to drop

Nov 17, 2015

The number of young South Koreans studying abroad plunged by a third over eight years, official data showed Tuesday, apparently thanks to the nation's improved English education system.In 2014, 10,907 students from primary and secondary schools left the country to study abroad, down 12 percent from 12,374 the year before, according to the tally released by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Education Development Institute. It is about one-third the number of students in 2006, which peaked
Seoul school accused of admissions fraud

Nov 15, 2015

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Sunday that it found multiple cases of admissions fraud by Hana Academy Seoul in a special investigation of the school.According to the SMOE, the academy rigged the admissions tests results from 2011 to 2013 to allow more boys to enter in a bid to retain an even male-to-female ratio. The officials said some 90 students who were below the cutoff grade were admitted to the school as a result.The SMOE decided to file charges with the prosecution against t
Ministry to punish teachers for textbook protest

Nov 15, 2015

The Education Ministry has requested disciplinary actions against teachers who participated in a nationwide condemnation of the recently revived state-authored history textbooks, officials said Sunday.According to the ministry, officials have called for punishment of 21,379 teachers from 3,904 schools across the country who publicly denounced the government’s plan to use state-issued history textbooks for secondary education on Oct. 29. The governmental plan, which hinges on its claims that curr
Test-takers embrace challenges of ‘Suneung’

Nov 12, 2015

Jo Myeong-ja, 79, has taken a long detour en route to higher education. As the oldest of some 630,000 students who took the annual college entrance exam Thursday morning, Jo stood outside the gates of Hongik University Girls’ High School, recounting her journey as youngsters chanted cheers and parents hugged their children in the background.“I want to go to college. As long as there’s still time, I will do as much as I can,” the elderly student of Ilsung Women’s High School told local media. Aft
Education ministry, foreign embassies ink deal on biz cooperation

Nov 12, 2015

The Unification Ministry and eight foreign embassies in Seoul agreed Thursday to cooperate on developing a program that will help middle school students explore their career options, government officials said.The education ministry, the institute for vocational training and foreign embassies, including the British Embassy, inked a deal to cooperate on ways to facilitate the "free semester" program, a key pillar of President Park Geun-hye's education policy, the ministry said.The free semester pr
630,000 students take college entrance exam

Nov 12, 2015

More than 630,000 high school seniors and graduates in South Korea took the state-administered annual college entrance exam Thursday, as the government implemented various traffic control and anti-noise measures near nationwide testing sites.A total of 631,187 students, down about 10,000 from last year, registered to take the standardized College Scholastic Ability Test that was administrated at 1,212 testing sites, according to Ministry of Education.The exam, which is similar to the American Sc