The Korea Herald

Korea to stress safety in new school curriculum

Aug 31, 2015

South Korea’s Education Ministry will introduce a new subject in elementary schools on how to deal with various safety hazards including traffic and maritime accidents, officials said Monday.The ministry announced that the new safety program ― conducted for an hour each week for first- and second-grade students in elementary schools ― will cover traffic safety, disaster management, self-protection and miscellaneous safety hazards in everyday lives. “Rather than simply focusing on imparting knowl
The irony of plagiarized ‘self-introductions’

Aug 30, 2015

Lack of proper writing training forces students to turn to yet another private tutoring
Seoul to fund N. Korean scholars' studies in Germany

Aug 29, 2015

　Seoul plans to provide funding for North Korean forestry specialists to study in Germany, a U.S. news report said Saturday, in its latest effort to restore deforested mountains in the North.　　Under the plan, South Korea will help around 30 North Korean experts study in Germany by providing US$70,000, according to the Voice of America (VOA), which cited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.　　The specialists will visit Germany in four batches between September and Nov
University enrollment decreases for first time

Aug 27, 2015

The number of South Korean undergraduate students in four-year colleges and universities decreased for the first time since the government started tallying educational statistics, officials said Thursday, as the country continued to see a gradual decline in overall students.About 3.61 million students were enrolled in higher education institutes as of 2015, 2.1 million of whom were undergraduates, according to the Education Ministry. The number of undergraduates marked a 0.8 percent fall from 20
International schools filled with local students

Aug 24, 2015

A stroll through the beautiful campus of Chadwick International in Songdo, Incheon, is nearly enough to make a visitor forget this is a Korea-based school: Posters on the wall are in English, teachers are foreign and the animated discussions heard in the hallways are also in English. But a glance of the faces of the students is enough to snap the visitor back to reality, as the school consists of 80 percent Koreans. There has been criticism among education circles that foreign education institut
Korea University recruiting for journalism program

Aug 24, 2015

Korea University’s graduate school of journalism and mass communications is recruiting a new batch of students for the fall semester of its advanced media program, university officials said.The program, which will welcome its 44th intake in September, will help students learn about differences between traditional and new media and how to mediate between the two, according to the officials. Prominent scholars in media, business planning and strategy will give lectures on Internet media as well as
Korea University, KOICA to train officials from developing states

Aug 24, 2015

Korea University, in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, said Monday it will begin a business training program for 39 government officials from 23 developing states around the world in September.　The KU-KOICA program, first launched in 2007, aims to transfer South Korea’s economic and business expertise to policymakers in developing countries in regions including South and Central America, Asia and Africa.　This year’s program participants will take diverse master’s degre
Female students dominate college exam

Aug 18, 2015

Female students who took the college entrance exam ― known here as the “Suneung” ― last year garnered higher scores in all major subjects compared to their male counterparts, the state-run Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation said Tuesday.According to KICE data, the gender disparity was more profound in the Korean Language and English categories, in which female students have generally done better than their male counterparts. Girls got 5.4 more points in standard scores in Korean Langu
Professor commits suicide over college voting system

Aug 17, 2015

A professor at a Busan-based university was found dead Monday in what appears to be a suicide, after protesting the university’s decision to abolish direct election of its president.The 54-year-old professor of Pusan National University, identified by his surname Goh, jumped from the fourth floor of a university building around 3:20 p.m. He died despite being immediately moved to a nearby hospital for treatment.The incident came as the PNU and its faculty members are locked in a fierce battle ov
Education underpins Korea’s rapid growth

Aug 16, 2015

South Korea’s education system played a pivotal role in its improbable transformation from one of the poorest countries in the world to the fourth-largest economy in Asia. The country’s series of transformations throughout its history are mirrored in changes witnessed in the education system. In the midst of the country’s rapid development, Koreans sought education as the way to dig their way out of poverty.South Korea is now famous for having one of the fiercest education fevers in the world. A
What they don't teach you at school

Aug 12, 2015

South Korea’s questionable sex education may have adverse effects on teenagers’ sexual perceptions
[Weekender] Winds of change sweep universities, student life

Aug 7, 2015

Like almost everything else in Korea, universities here have seen dramatic changes over the past few decades.　In the years immediately following the 1950-1953 Korean War, universities were home to the offspring of the few who could afford higher education for their children.　As the country’s economy grew, university education became more widely available and the universities became the breeding grounds for diverse aspects of society, from democracy movements and political ideologies to popular c
[Weekender] Graduation albums a rite of passage

Aug 7, 2015

College seniors have many things on their minds. 　From midterm grades and postgraduate plans to love interests, twentysomethings go through some busy years. In Korea, taking graduation album photos adds to that lengthy to-do list before they can walk in their cap and gown. 　Seniors dress up in glittering suits with full makeup, aiming for a look worthy of an A-lister. They pose for photographs on their campus in the spring or fall, three or four months before commencement. Graduates take selfies
S. Korea mulls setting up body for history textbooks

Aug 5, 2015

Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea has said the government does not rule out establishing a body responsible for the publication of Korean history textbooks for students."There could be confusion among our young students on our history as there are various (history textbooks)," Hwang said Tuesday in an interview with Yonhap News Agency at his office in the central city of Sejong.Currently, eight private publishing companies print history textbooks after winning approval from the government. Middle
‘Give education back to schools’

Aug 3, 2015

Veteran educator says system overhaul is key to abandon competition-driven education