Sunday, March 10, 2019

Difficult Life of Students in Korea

In the Catholic Peace Weekly, a professor with a doctorate in education reveals some interesting information on student efforts to enter a prestigious college. As a result of analyzing the successful candidates, they found the ratio of those who entered after high school in 2019 decreased and the repeaters (taking the exam one or more times because of failure)  have increased.  43% percent passed on their first try, 40,2% passed on the second try and 15.3% passed on the third try.
 

College admission experts said that the college scholastic ability test in 2019 was easier for those experienced in taking the test than those who were taking it for the first time and this showed in the results.
 

2020 academic college entrance exams are expected to be easier. The Institute that oversees the SAT test, said it will work towards this end. For this reason, students who received a low grade in the college entrance examination are attracted to the academies. These institutes were crowded with applicants and classes were filled quickly preparing for next year's test.

Those who have failed in their first try require determination and self-confidence.  If you lived with an amateur spirit during your school years, you have to become a  professional. You have tasted failure once and don't want a repeat. "If I try again will my grades go up?" According to the data analyzed by an academy, 9 out of 10 students' grades have gone up. This is a fact that those who have experienced failure know.
 

The professor gives us his own experience of failure. At that time, his classmates who passed the entrance exams and were attending prestigious universities wore uniforms and school badges on their chests. In order not to encounter these classmates from high school he took the first subway from Incheon Station to the academy in Seoul. After class, he would take the last train.
 

He remembers Mao's tactics. It was a 1-foot retreat to move forward two feet. In the end, he received a high score in the college entrance enabling him to enter the three most prestigious universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University.
 

At that time, Korea University had a special screening system based only on the grades from the SAT and he passed. The joy was too great for words. He studied hard and was at the top of his class.

However, the eyes of those in society don't look too warmly on those who have experienced this failure in their young lives. This needs to change. They are an important human resource to lead the country. The schools,  community, and the government should all be concerned in their guidance and mental health. Also a concern for those who fail and continue to fail and find it difficult to come to a decision that college is not the only future for a young person. Here we have a need to change the way society looks upon life and its meaning.