The future of the country is in the hands of the young, says the
principal of the first alternate school in the Catholic educational
system. But many of our students, he told the Peace Weekly--referring to
the happiness index of the Organization for Economic-Cooperation and
Development, which lists Korea as having the lowest happiness rating
among students in the 30 countries surveyed--are not happy. Now that
the Catholic Church is experimenting with alternative schools, the hope
is that the happiness of our students will be favorably affected.
A
number of reasons have been suggested for student unhappiness,
financing their college education being one important reason.
High-school students often cite another reason: Studying for college
entrance exams and the intense competition to score high on the exams
puts a great deal of pressure on to succeed. And the biggest culprit
for this current situation, says the principal, has been the
disappearance of holistic education.
In an attempt to correct
some of the problems, the law has been changed to allow schools to
pursue an atypical curriculum that is more varied, natural, and
holistic. Some educators feel that this is not a wise move. They worry
that the students attending these schools will not be able
to fit into society, find work and earn enough money. This is often the
way
those who are immersed in our industrialized society choose to see the
benefits, or lack of benefits, of alternate types of education, compared
with the perceived benefits of the current educational system.
The
Peace Weekly gives an account of a recent workshop-meeting that brought
together the teachers and the parents of students attending the first
alternative Catholic school in the country. Although the primary
emphasis of the school is on character formation, the principal is
contemplating a move into more spiritual dimensions of life. If
character education is understood to form the person, the spiritual will
work to go beyond the person to more community involvement, always
searching and working for the common good. Moving in this direction will
deepen the freedom and autonomy of the students. When this is achieved,
the principal said we will have "a happy school"--a school that
students will want to attend.
A professor from the Catholic
University is quoted in the article as saying that Catholic schools are
now at the crossroads
of a new Gospel mission. Whenever Catholic school administrators are
tempted by the present educational system to be complacent or to
compromise, they should bring to mind the Gospel message and have that
inspire them.
