The South Korean education system, known for its high-achieving students, is very demanding. Students spend much of their time – between 12 and 16 hours per day – at school or at a special extracurricular academy called 학원Hagwon.
I met three high school students in Busan, South Korea. They are Kim Tae-yeong(17) studying at Busan Mechanical Technical High School majoring in the department of shipbuilding and Machining, Jeong Hye-yeon(17) studying at Busan Girl’s High School, and Choi Yu-jin(17) Sungil Girl’s High School.
How is your day going these days?
Tae-yeong: I’m living in a school dormitory, so I wake up at 6:20 in the morning, go to school playing fields, do youth gymnastics, and go to the school cafeteria for breakfast. It wasn’t like that before, but after Corona, we line up by class and have a meal. There are tables for each class and each person eats in a separate table surrounded by a transparent partition. When I finish eating, I go back to the dormitory, change into my school uniform, wash up, and get ready for school.
Hye-yeon: Because of the Corona pandemic, I spend most of the time at home, so I sleep later than usual and I’m out of shape these days.
Yu-jin: Mmm…It feels so unfamiliar that I don’t go to school regularly anymore even though we have no vacation. When taking face-to-face classes at school, we set up our desks in a row and take classes with distancing.
How is the school system working?
Tae-yeong: In the Meister High School [similar to a “vocational school” in conjunction with on-the-job training in Europe, only that the practically-oriented and interdisciplinary lessons take place in a closed environment apart from real-life companies], all students used to live in dormitories. But these days, living in a dormitory is optional because of Corona. Dormitories include study rooms where we can study, so we used to study there until 1 a.m.. but now we can only use it until 11:30 p.m. Students who want to study after 11:30 p.m. should proceed at the desk in their dormitory room.
Now we have a hybrid system for the whole school. Meaning we go to classes for 2 weeks and for another 2 weeks we are attending remotely. For example, in the first two weeks, the 1st graders go to school, the 2nd graders take online classes at home. And the next two weeks, the 2nd graders come to school, and the first graders take online classes at home. However, 3rd graders come to school every day because they have to take the CSAT [If students want to go to university, they must take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which is notoriously difficult. It’s typical to take extra tuition or go to a ‘cram school’ in order to ensure good grades at this stage]. The face-to-face class starts at 8:30 a.m. and finishes at 4:20 p.m. Except for wearing a mask and distancing, the quality of classes and school life are the same as before Corona.
How does the online class proceed?
Tae-yeong: Students participate in the online class according to schedule. If you don’t come to class on time, you will be absent which has a bad effect on getting a job later. So most students try to come to class on time. In online classes, students usually learn “theory”. First graders have more time to learn humanities (about 10 subjects such as Korean, English, math, social studies, science, etc.) than hands-on practical classes. The higher the grade, the more practical class. As an example of practical classes, I have 3 hours of welding practice per week in the first grade.
Hye-yeon: In our school, some classes are real-time lectures using zoom, and some are pre-recorded lectures. That first lesson in the morning, I lie down on my bed and listen to the pre-recorded lecture as if I were listening to the radio (laughing).
Yu-jin: I envy Hye-yeon’s school system. In my school, all online lessons are real-time lectures. There are some classes where you have to turn on the camera and show your face in each class. When I take classes where I have to show my face, I’m concerned about my face on the screen.
It’s hard to concentrate on the online class because I keep falling asleep.
Yu-jin Choi
What are the difficulties caused by Corona?
Hye-yeon: Last year when I was in 3rd grade in middle school, I was sad because I couldn’t see my friends. But now, I’m rather happy that I don’t have to go to school. Because it takes 50 minutes by bus to commute to school.
Tae-yeong: It’s too bad that there is no sports competition in May. Also in my high school, there is an exchange-program where I go to Australia for a few weeks with support from the school in the second grade provided I get a good English test score. I really want to participate in it, but I’m not sure if the program will be held or not because of Corona.
Do you have to take a COVID-19 test when you go to school?
Tae-yeong: Before joining high school, I took a covid swab test, but now I just have to record a self-diagnosis report on my smartphone and submit it every morning before going to school. If you don’t, you’ll get in trouble.
How does your family or friends support you?
Tae-yeong: I go home once a week, and they welcome me and make delicious food for me. It’s the joy of my life these days to eat something delicious when I come home. Because of Corona, the dormitory canteen is closed, so there is nothing to eat except school meals. School meals are not bad, but I get tired of them as I keep eating them over and over. The vending machine disappeared too, so when the lady who sells Yakult comes into the classroom after the morning class every day, students buy a lot of fermented yogurt drink.
What’s your dream? What do you want to study at university?
Tae-yeong: I want to start a business. Because I want to open my own company. I also want to enter a large company and work until retirement. Because it’s an honor for me. I still can go to university later. I think there is a better chance of success through technology than studying. Many students go to technical high schools in foreign countries, I presume, but in Korea people have a negative perception of technical high schools. So I had no intention of going to a technical high school when I was in middle school. However, when I saw my sister having a hard time attending an academic high school, my parents said that for me it would be better to do something else than go to a academic high school and sit in the classroom all day long. They supported me going to technical high school.
Hye-yeon: I want to study pharmacy I became interested in this field when I was searching for information about medicine because I am allergic to antibiotics. To apply to the pharmacy university, I need to improve my scores though – It looks like I missed my chance so far, unfortunately…(laugh). I like science, but math I find difficult.
Yu-jin: I would love to study hotel, culinary and hospitality when I go to college. When I was young, I had a dream by watching cartoons where pastry chefs appeared. And I want to go abroad and experience a wider world.
