A Proposed North and South Korean Education System Consolidation Plan for a Reunified Korean Peninsula

Abstract

Education is usually viewed as the vehicle that drives a society. The quality of education has a profound effect on how a society is shaped, functions, and prospers. Organizations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund urge developing third world nations to invest into education for a long term development, because education is an investment that pays the highest dividends over the long run. Education has been an important centerpiece in South Korean society as well. Education, especially the formalized school system, play a central part in determining a child's future—his or her ability to attain the necessary grades and marks have a bearing on the college that the child will get into, and admission into college, in turn, determines the type of profession and salary that the child will get after graduation. The trend in South Korean education is the overt emphasis put on the formalized school education, especially around the admission and selection process of college, universities, specialized high schools, and academically renowned high school. Anxiety over college entrance is a part of all adolescent's life around the world. However, the emphasis put on it by the society has acutely exacerbated the problem. The exorbitantly long hours that students spend in classroom in preparation for entrance examination, as well as societal and parental pressure, has done much to raise the stress levels of most adolescent students in South Korea, often bringing unwelcomed incidents of student suicide and other conflicts over the issue. Problems such as this is an inherent problem that exists within the South Korean education system. North Korean education system, based on a completely different and opposite ideology, has its sets of problems and issues. Why is the problems associated with both system important? Looking at the recent events that happened around the Korean peninsula, especially the unusual movements by North Korea over the past few years, coupled with the reports of severe and crippling economic hardship that has North Korean population on a brink of mass starvation, a reunification of the Korean peninsula does not sound so abstract and narcissistic. One of the first tasks to be accomplished by the unified Korean government will be the consolidation of the North and South Korean education system. A solid education system will act as a foundation upon with social, economic, and political development can take place. A solid education also goes a long way to stabilize a society. In order to devise a plan for consolidation, both education systems must be looked at detail to identify the differences, similarities, and problems that exist within the systems. Once identified, these issues can be utilized as a background tool in determining the direction which the new education system can take. This study analyzes education systems of both North and South Korea in depth to find the commonality, incompatibility, and problems associated with both systems. A comparative analysis of both systems provide an insight as to what type of consolidated education system should be adopted in post-unification Korea.