Expansion of Education in Korea

- From access/coverage to quality education -

Gwang-Jo KimDirector of UNESCO Bangkok

Former Deputy Minister of Education, Republic of Korea 112 Nov 2009

Outline

I. IntroductionII. Educational AchievementIII. Strategies for Education ExpansionIV. Recent Reform InitiativesV. Some Reflections

212 Nov 2009

3

South Korea

Japan

Russia

China

North Korea

Republic of Korea in Brief

• Area: 100,140 km2 (Thailand: 513,120 km2)• Population: 48.5 million (Thailand: 65.9 million)• Economy

– World 13th economy– GNI per capita: US$ 21,530 (FY08)– OECD member economy in 1996– Broadband access per capita(1st)– Car manufacturing (5th),

Ship-building(2nd), Semiconductor production(1st)

412 Nov 2009

History & Culture

• Brief History▫ Three Kingdoms (BC 1C-AD7C) – Shilla (7-10C) – Koryo(10-14C) –

Chosun (1392-1910) “Country of Morning Calm”, “Hermit Nation”▫ Japanese Colonial Rule(1910-1945) – Korean War(1950-1953)▫ Authoritarian Regime (until 1980s) – Democratization (1990s)

• Cultural Features▫ Homogeneous people & language: prevalence of egalitarianism▫ Confucian tradition: high regard for learning & zeal for education▫ Education ideal: Benefiting All Human Beings (“Hong’ik In’gan”)▫ Traditional hierarchy of professions: scholars-farmers-

engineers/scientists-merchants; preference for “generalists”

512 Nov 2009

Economic & Social Development

1970 1998 2004 2008

Human Development Index 0.523 0.82 0.912 0.928

Life Expectancy (yrs) 62.6 72.6 77.3 79.6

Infant mortality rate(per 1,000 births)

43 5 5 4.1

612 Nov 2009

Korea-Thailand Relationship

• Thailand’s entry into the Korean War (1950)– 15,708 Thai soldiers dispatched; 136 dead, 469 wounded

• Establishment of Diplomatic Relations (1958)• Korean-Thai Trade: approx. US$ 10 bil. per year

– Korea is Thailand’s 9th largest trading partner, Thailand is Korea’s 17th largest trading partner

• Educational exchanges in 2008: – Thai students in Korea: 241– Korean students in Thailand: 188

• About 1 mil Korean visit Thailand per year, 170 K Thai visit Korea

7

Monument dedicated to Royal Thai Armed Force

12 Nov 2009

8

Education System

• Formal Education▫Primary(6) - Middle(3) - High(3) - Universities /Colleges(4)▫Basic: 11K schools, 7.6M students, 403K teachers▫Univs/Colleges: 405 HEIs, 3.5M students, 73K FT teachers

•Vocational Education & Training▫VE: Vocational high schools – junior colleges/polytechnic

colleges(2-3) and polytechnic universities(4)▫VT: Public/private job training institutions, in-plant training

institutions•Non-formal Education & Training▫Public/private job institutions; Private tutoring institutions,

adult education centers; in-plant training institutions, etc

912 Nov 2009

Coverage/Access/Equity (Quantity)

•Skill formation by expanding educational opportunities▫Attain average international education standards▫Average length of education for ages 25-64: 7

years (early 70s)→13 years(’02)▫Korea recognized as model of economic success

achieved through human resources•No discernable difference in school access

across different SES groups

1012 Nov 2009

Attainment of Secondary Ed

11

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance 2009

12 Nov 2009

Attainment of Tertiary Ed

12

Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance 2009

12 Nov 2009

GER & Advancement Rate

13

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1970 1980 1990 2000 2009

Primary Middle High School Tertiary

Primary → Middle Middle → High High →Tertiary

GER

Advancement rate

12 Nov 2009

Quality

• K-12 education: comparable to world standard & OECD average• Higher Education: begin to “catch-up”

International Student Assessments

14

Rank

PISA 2003 (15 years old)

PISA 2006 (15 years old)

Math Reading Science Problem Solving

Math Reading Science

12345:::

11

HK-ChinaFinlandKoreaNetherlandsLichtenstein

FinlandKoreaCanadaAustraliaLichtenstein

FinlandJapanHK-ChinaKoreaLichtenstein

KoreaHK-ChinaFinlandJapanNew Zealand

Chinese TaipeiFinlandHK-ChinaKoreaNetherlandsSwitzerland

KoreaFinlandHK-ChinaCanadaNew ZealandIreland

FinlandHK-ChinaCanadaChinese Taipei Estonia:::Korea

12 Nov 2009

Equity in PISA performance

12 Nov 2009 15

5.2

2.5

0.5

6.6

7.6

14.1

8.7

3.6

14.5

16.8

24

21.2

13.6

22.8

24.2

27.4

31.8

29.1

27.2

24

20.3

25.5

32.2

20.9

18.3

7.7

9.2

17

7.2

7.5

1.3

1.1

3.9

0.8

1.5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

OECD Average

Korea

Finland

France

USA

Below L1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

Source extracted from: OECD (2007), PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World

Percentage of students at each proficiency level on the science scale

Class Size & Dropout Rate

16

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1970 1980 1990 2000 2009

Primary Middle High School Middle High School

12 Nov 2009

Lifelong Learning

17

0~4 5~14 15~19 20~29 30~39 Over 40

19.6

92.779.9

26.5

1.7 0.4

67.8

98.5

79.4

22.7

5.4 1.5

GER by Age Cohort

Korea OECD Average

25~34 34~44 45~54 55~64

26

21

118

1916

1411

Higher Education Attendance Rate by Age

Cohort

Korea OECD Average

12 Nov 2009

Public Educational Spending Per Pupil

18

3,798

5,873

7,632

4,210

-

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

1970 1980 1990 2000 2006

primary school middle school high school universities

(Unit : 1,000 won)

12 Nov 2009

19

3.1 Linking Educational Policies to Macro-Economic Development

Plans• 5-Year Development Plan (1962-1991)

– Government directly Government directly led planning(1962-76) : 1st-3rd Plans

– Indicative planning(1977-91) : 4th-6th Plans Top-down educational policies to support

economic development plans and provide trained workforce

• 5-Year National HRD Plan (2001-2008)– Coordinated approach to education and training in a

knowledge-based economy Education policies as a key human resources

development strategy2012 Nov 2009

3.2 Sequential Expansion Approach

• Prior to 1975: 65% of education budget invested in primary education

• After 1975: investment expanded to secondary education– Compulsory primary education completed in 1957

• Since late 1990s: investment in quality of higher education– Public funding for performance-based programs in

universities2112 Nov 2009

3.3 Step-by-step Attainment of Universal Education

• Primary Secondary Higher Education

22

-10

10

30

50

70

90

110

1970 1975 1980 1990 1995 2000 2003 2005 2009

Primary Lower Secondary Upper Secondary Tertiary

Elite Mass Universal

12 Nov 2009

3.4 Quantitative Expansion First

Quality Improvement Later

23

19.818.415.7

33.0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2009

Student-Teacher Ratio

Primary Middle High School Tertiary

• 1970s: Effective use of school facilities through double/multi-shifting (low-cost solution)

• 1990s-: Quality enhancement efforts (e.g. class-size reduction)

12 Nov 2009

3.5 Sustained Public Investment in Education

0

5

10

15

20

25

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006

%

bill

on

wo

n

MOE budget Total Public educational expenditures% of Govn't budget Ratio to GDP

2412 Nov 2009

3.6 Mobilization of Private Resources

25

Private School Enrollment Share (2009)

Source extracted from: MEST (2009), Statistical Yearbook of Education 200912 Nov 2009

3.6.1 Gov’t Role for Privatization

• Regulations– Private Education Act (1963)– Used to regulated market entry, admission, enrollment quota,

facilities, tuition, …– High School Equalization Policy (1974), Graduation Enrollment

Quota System (1980-1987), etc.

• Incentives– Existence of excess demand facilitated market response– Tax exemption/break for school operation– Direct subsidy for private secondary school operation– Special loans for institutions of higher education– Grants and other support for private schools

2612 Nov 2009

3.7 Use of Government Research Institutes (GRIs) in Education

Policy Processes• KDI (1971): GOK's master think tank• KEDI (1972): Conduct overall education policy studies• KERIS (1996): Focus on ICT in education & e-Learning• KRIVET (1997): Enhance vocational education & training• KICE (1998): Conduct curriculum research & development, and

educational evaluation for K-12• EBS (1990): Provide educational broadcasting programs

– KDI: Korea Development Institute– KEDI: Korea Education Development Institute– KERIS: Korea Education & Research Information Service– KRIVET: Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training– KICE: Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation– EBS: Education Broadcasting System

2712 Nov 2009

3.8 Notable Policy Measures

• Supply of Teachers– Operated temporary teacher training centers since 1958– Induced talents into the teaching profession with a strong

teacher remuneration scheme and other incentives (e.g., exemption of military service)

• Expansion and Improvement of School Facilities– Increased school seats with a special budget earmarked for

school environment improvement (7.2% in ’60s → 15.8% in ’90s, as % of total public education expenditure)

– Refined school facilities to meet new education demands (eg. movable partitions, internet-connected classrooms for e-Learning since 1995)

2812 Nov 2009

3.8.1 Lower-Secondary School Teachers’ Salaries

29Source: OECD (2009), Education at a Glance 2009

12 Nov 2009

30

4.1 5.31 Education Reform (1995)

31

A Systematic Approach to Restructure the Entire Education System:

Building an Open Learning Society: “Edutopia”

Curriculum Reform (the 7th Curriculum)Curriculum Reform (the 7th Curriculum)Curriculum Reform (the 7th Curriculum)Curriculum Reform (the 7th Curriculum)

Deregulation and School Governance Reform (“Hak-Un-Wi”)Deregulation and School Governance Reform (“Hak-Un-Wi”)Deregulation and School Governance Reform (“Hak-Un-Wi”)Deregulation and School Governance Reform (“Hak-Un-Wi”)

Increase in Public Financing (GNP 5%)Increase in Public Financing (GNP 5%)Increase in Public Financing (GNP 5%)Increase in Public Financing (GNP 5%)

Use of ICT in Schools and ClassroomsUse of ICT in Schools and ClassroomsUse of ICT in Schools and ClassroomsUse of ICT in Schools and Classrooms

12 Nov 2009

4.2 Deregulation/Decentralizati

on• School councils: School-based management

– “Hak-Un”Wi” (1996): parents, teachers and regional stakeholders taking part in school operation (mandatory for all primary and secondary schools)

• Introduction of Various Autonomous Schools– Promote school choice and diversifying schooling– 300 autonomous schools initiative

• Reorganization of School District– Seoul metropolitan area: 11 school districts 5-6

districts

3212 Nov 2009

4.3 Curriculum Reform

• Student-centered Curriculum (7th Nat’l Curriculum)– Focus on fostering individual talents, aptitudes & creativity to prepare

for globalization & the knowledge economy– Common curriculum(grades 1-10) + electives(grades 11-12)

• Devolution of Curricular Choice

• Strengthen English Language Education– Increase English instruction class hours– Promote instruction with native speaker (3,000 in FY08)

33

National Local School Student

1998 42% 52% 6% -

2002 26% 20% 20% 20-50%

12 Nov 2009

4.4 Regional/National Assessment (since 2008)

• Regional Assessment for Diagnosis– Administered by Provincial Education Offices to

diagnose students’ aptitude/achievement at the beginning of the school year

• National Students Achievement Assessment– Administered by Ministry to assess achievement

of students at 6th, 9th and 10th grades– Disclosure of the results by school distracts level

and link to financial support for the special needs

12 Nov 2009 34

4.5 Renewal of Teaching Profession

• Increased Participation of Teachers in Policy Process– Teacher representatives in School Councils (1995)– Collective bargaining between government and Teachers

Unions (1999-)– Open recruitment of principals (2007)

• Professional Development & Accountability– Introduction of a new evaluation system focusing on

teaching performance (2005), 360 degree evaluation (2007)

– Assessment & accreditation of teacher education & training institutes (2009)

3512 Nov 2009

36

• Age of Uncertainty/Constant Change– Match between education and productive sector– Chronic shortage of “skilled workers” admist “job-

less growth”

• Continuity of Education Reform initiatives– Bureaucracy vs. market– Excellence vs. equity

• Intra-Inter Country Benchmarking– Emulation of successful foreign policies and

practices

3712 Nov 2009

38

Gwang-Jo Kimgj.kim@unesco.org