Education in South Korea
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| Budget | $11.3 billion |
|---|---|
| Primary languages | Korean |
| Total | 99.9% |
| Male | 99.9% |
| Female | 99.9% |
| Primary | 3.3 million |
| Secondary | 4.0 million |
| Post secondary | 3.6 million |
| Secondary diploma | 99.7% |
| Post-secondary diploma | 68.0% |
Education in South Korea is provided by both public schools and private schools. Both types of schools receive funding from the government, although the amount that the private schools receive is less than the amount of the state schools.
South Korea is one of the top-performing OECD countries in reading literacy, maths and sciences with the average student scoring 542 and has one of the worlds highest-educated labour forces among OECD countries. The country is well known for its high feverish outlook on education, where its national obsession with education has been called "education fever". This obsession with education has catapulted the resource poor nation consistently atop the global education rankings where in 2014 national rankings of students’ math and science scores by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea ranked second place worldwide, after Singapore.
Higher education is an overwhelmingly serious issue in South Korea society, where it is viewed as one of the fundamental cornerstones of South Korean life. Education is regarded with a high priority for South Korean families as success in education holds a cultural status as well as a necessity to improve one's socioeconomic position in South Korean society. Academic success is often a source of pride for families and within South Korean society at large. South Koreans view education as the main propeller of social mobility for themselves and their family as a gateway to the South Korean middle class. Graduating from a top university is the ultimate marker of prestige, high socioeconomic status, promising marriage prospects, and a respectable career path. An average South Korean child's life revolves around education as pressure to succeed academically is deeply ingrained in South Korean children from an early age. Not having a university degree carries a major cultural stigma as those who lack a formal university education face social prejudice and are often looked down upon by others.
In 2015, the country spent 4.7% of its GDP on all levels of education – roughly equal to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 4.7% also. A strong investment in education, a militant drive for success as well as the passion for excellence has helped the resource poor country rapidly grow its economy over the past 60 years from a war torn wasteland. South Korea’s zeal for education and its students’ desires to get into a prestigious university is one of the highest in the world, as the entrance into a top tier higher educational institution leads to a prestigious, secure and well-paid white collar job with the government, banks, a major South Korean conglomerate such as Samsung, Hyundai or LG Electronics. With incredible pressure on high school students to secure places at the nation’s best universities, its institutional reputation and alumni networks are strong predictors of future career prospects. The top three universities in South Korea, often referred to as "SKY", are Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. Intense competition for top grades and academic pressure to be the top student is deeply ingrained in the psyche of South Korean students at a young age. Yet with only so many places at universities and even fewer places at top-tier companies, many young people remain disappointed and are often unwilling to lower their sights with the result of many feeling as underachievers. There is a major cultural taboo in South Korean society attached to those who have not achieved formal university education where those who don't hold university degrees face social prejudice and are often looked down by others as second-class citizens resulting fewer opportunities for employment, improvement of one's socioeconomic position and prospects for marriage.
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