There is a general consensus that South Korea’s soaring achievements in reconstruction and economic growth in the post-Korean war years can be largely credited to the huge investment of resources in education to develop premium “human capital.” However, escalating rates of depression and suicide amongst students are causing many to question the sacrifices made in the relentless drive to modernity.
s a nation with strong Confucian heritage, Korea has long esteemed knowledge and study. Scholars are respected, and are exempt from military conscription. This in part explains the wholehearted embrace of the nation of intense study programs for their children. Since 1945, when national literacy stood at around 22%, rates are now at over 93%, and the number of students going on to higher educational institutions outnumbers that of the UK. South Korea’s economic regeneration has gone hand in hand with this emphasis on academic excellence, and as the economy falters, parents drive their children ever harder to ensure they will find a place in increasingly squeezed job markets.
[quote align=”center” color=”#b64736″]There is a limit to how far vulnerable young people can be pushed though. Education Ministry figures reveal that in 2010, three elementary school students, 53 junior high students and 90 secondary school students took their own lives in 2010.[/quote]
In spite of its phenomenal post-war achievements, South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the OECD, jumping from 18.7 per 100,000 people to 28.4 between 2002 and 2009, and it is the leading cause of death for people in their twenties and thirties.
Although early year’s education emphasizes fun and play, exams and tests enter into a child’s school journey very early on, establishing a path that will continue for the duration of their scholarly career. From an early age, sometimes as young as two, children are intensively drilled and coached.
Of around 700,000 students nationwide taking the university entrance exams, only 10 percent will get into the four top Seoul. According to the Korea Development Institute, failure to get into this elite group will result in a 16.4 percent lower income on average than those who study in the capital, partially explaining why parents are so desperate for their children to do well from such an early age.
[quote align=”center” color=”#b64736″]The importance of achieving the highest score possible is reinforced continuously, and students quickly learn that there will be no credit for second place.[/quote]
Young people have taken to using the phrase ‘umchinah,’ my mother’s friend’s son, to describe the sense of anxiety driving their academic endeavors- no matter how well they do, there is always the unknown competitor to fear, feeding bullying and social isolation. In a society that values individuals who have reached the most elite universities, there is the grim inevitability that those on the lower rung of the ladder will quickly lose their sense of self worth.
School days will last from about 8am to 4pm, and are often bookended with tuition at private academies known as hakwons. It’s not uncommon to see hakwon buses dropping off sleepy fourteen year olds at their doors at around 11pm, ready to snatch a few hours sleep before the grind begins again. Teenagers are well aware of the importance of achievement, with 53.4 percent stating in a study last year that poor grades and school pressures are some of the main reasons that they think about suicide.
At one of South Korea’s most prestigious universities, there have been four suicides since January. Even in the country which has had the highest suicide rate of all OECD nations for the past three years, this was shocking. Although these students had succeeded in getting into this much coveted institution, the pressure from their teachers and social expectations of those who gain entry to elite institutions to constantly maintain flawless results never relented. The question remains, if South Korea keeps building the pressure on its students, how long until the next generation of human capital starts to buckle?
