The main opposition party's leader exchanged barbs with a ruling party governor Wednesday after the provincial government announced an end to universal free school meals.  The free meal program, which has been adopted in most parts of the nation, has been a constant source of tension between the rival parties as critics argue the money could be used to provide greater support to students from low-income families.  Last week, South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo declared an end to univers

The government’s plan released Friday to prevent suicides such as by monitoring their student social media messages sparked controversy in Korea for being ineffective and unrealistic.The Education Ministry said it would work on introducing an application and software that would alert the parents if words suggestive of a suicide are used by a student in text and social media messages or Internet searches. They said a similar application has already been developed by the Korea Communications Commi

Seoul National University, widely considered the most prestigious higher education institute in Korea, dropped out of the top 50 on Times Higher Education’s world reputation ranking for the first time since 2012.The school plummeted to the 51-60 group this year from No. 26 a year ago on the list, which is based on a survey on 9,794 responses of academics from 142 countries. Experts who participated in the survey included those in the fields of engineering and technology, social science, physical

South Korea, China and Japan vowed Wednesday to try to restore stagnant trilateral cooperation as they prepare for a meeting of their foreign ministers slated for late March.South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo met with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Liu Zhenmin and Shinsuke Sugiyama, respectively, to discuss how to revive trilateral cooperation amid Tokyo-sparked historical tension in the region.The three-way, ministerial-level meeting, the first sinc

Educational Testing Service held the 2015 TOEIC Global Leadership Program for college students from Feb. 27-28, providing them consultations and lectures on business skills, officials said Monday.A total of 42 students ― who were picked based on their school grades, TOEIC scores and an essay ― received training courses on skills like teamwork and leadership. They were also treated to lectures by Amy Jackson, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea; Bradley Buckwalter, Chairman/Adv

South Korea's private education spending per child edged up in 2014 from a year earlier, led by increased expenditures for music, art and physical education, a government survey showed Thursday.  Local parents spent an average of 242,000 won ($220) a month per child on private education last year, up 1.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the annual survey by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea.   The survey was conducted on 78,000 students and parents of 1,189 elementary, midd

The government said Monday it was planning to infuse 963 billion won ($867 million) to assist low-income families with education-related costs.According to the Education Ministry and the Welfare Ministry, low-income families with children attending elementary, middle and high school can apply for financial support for their school fees.The beneficiaries of the policy include households whose income is less than the state-determined minimum cost of living and low-income single-parent households.

The government’s policy to reduce English-language education costs by introducing absolute grading for the national college entrance exam may not be as effective as anticipated, a survey has showed. The survey released Monday by Yoon’s English School found that more than 90 percent of parents here were not planning to reduce spending on the subject.Some 82.9 percent of Korean parents said they would not reduce the amount they spent on English education, while another 10.3 percent were planning t

The Education Ministry’s plan to emphasize personality evaluations in college entrance has sparked confusion in education circles, with the abrupt cancellation of a government briefing on Monday adding to the uncertainty.Less than two hours before the scheduled time, the ministry canceled a press briefing on how it would seek to expand the use of personality evaluations in the college admission process. The recently appointed vice minister of education, Kim Jae-choon, was to announce the governm