Page 51 - IJPS-11-4

International Journal of
Population Studies Education fever in South Korea

prospects often make the mothers endure difficulties and During the years of primary and secondary education,
cling to their marriage. When asked whether divorce children in South Korea are often turned into “studying
should be avoided until all children have grown up, 82% of machines” (Cho, 2000). Figuratively, they are blindfolded
women respond in the affirmative (Chang & Song, 2010). to disregard the surrounding reality and their internal
In short, Korean mothers’ involvement in their children’s values and developmental needs (e.g., leisure, pleasure,
upbringing calls for personal and economic sacrifice reflection, sleep), focusing instead on fulfilling the self-
on their part, but they accept it as the social norm. They worth needs of their mothers. This focus primarily pertains
then seek other sources of fulfillment and self-validation. to the ranking of the high school and university where the
Mothers’ participation in their children’s learning process students enroll, which has an enormous influence on their
has been found to be related to the mothers’ degree of self- lifetime access to social and cultural capital as well as their
esteem (Kim, 2008). Children’s academic achievement feeds socioeconomic achievements (No, 2009). “It is a shared
directly into their mothers’ sense of self-worth and social belief among most parents that the rank of one’s university
status. Mothers who have given up their own intellectual determines one’s worth as a social being […] Those who
or professional development invest in the development fail consider themselves to be second-class citizens […]
of their children to regain their lost “self” and thus attain the values of mainstream culture presuppose that getting
their individualized gratification. However, children with on the escalator to academic success should be the top
poor academic performance are often reproached by their priority in children’s lives” (Cho, 1995, p. 148). This belief
mothers for sabotaging their efforts. Children are thus contributes to the “education fever” in South Korea and its
subjugated to serve as instruments for their mothers’ self- regional neighbors, which is transmitted and perpetuated
advancement under the guise of the children’s upbringing by mainstream culture, community relations, and the
and social initiation (Kim, 2008). children’s own parents (Seth, 2002; Chen et al., 2021).

3. Stakes at hands and implications for A standardized nationwide university entrance
students examination determines which universities students
may be admitted to. This examination holds colossal
In light of the reconceptualization in the previous section, importance not only for the students themselves but also
we next present the stakes at hand and the consequences for their entire families. Mothers often perform shamanist
for students, their families, and wider society. rituals or Christian prayers near the sites where their

3.1. Students’ lifetime outcomes and social side children are taking their examinations. The government
effects mobilizes public transportation and police, asks private
citizens to avoid causing traffic jams, and even reroutes
Adults’ expectations toward children, and children’s flights to minimize noise around testing sites.
expectations of themselves, vary across cultures in terms of
skills, understandings, and knowledge of proper behavior All the skills and knowledge that students have
(Thomas, 2000). The World Economic Forum has identified perfected during the preceding school years are assessed
10 key skills necessary to thrive in the Fourth Industrial on a single morning, during the university entrance
Revolution, topped by complex problem solving, critical examination day. This singular assessment gives rise to
thinking, and creativity (WEF, 2016). The Partnership for substantial pressure and stress that start accumulating
21 Century Learning emphasized the “4C” skills: Critical years before the examination date. From early childhood,
st
thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. even before elementary school – commonly considered
These skills are notably missing from Korean students’ the basic stepping stone on the path to the university
curricula, both in their formal instruction and after-school entrance examination – children are enrolled in English-
tutoring. language kindergartens and after-school private tutoring
in anticipation of getting ahead of other children (Cho,
In South Korea, the aspirations regarding the
accumulation of values, skills, and knowledge that children 1995; Bae & Park, 2020). The competitive pressure follows
the students over the years. On weekdays, middle school
are exposed to during school years focus solely on improving students typically spend as much as 9 h on formal and
the children’s performance on examinations and contests. informal study, while university students spend only 4.5 h
The emphasis in formal education leans heavily toward (Statistics Korea, 2022). The skills and knowledge that
skills assessed on written examinations, particularly the children focus on are all closely related to the requirements
university entrance examination and other standardized of the university entrance examination.
assessments (Park, 2002). This educational focus involves
a limited set of skills – primarily memorization of specific The side effect of the students’ preoccupation with a
types of knowledge and receptive skills. handful of standardized written tests is that they lack a

Volume 11 Issue 4 (2025) 45 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2955