Gangnam-gu has some of the best schools in Korea and the ratio of local high school students entering prestigeous universities is consistantly higher than in other areas. Korea's secondary educational lottery system requires that students attend a school in the district where they live. As a result, many wealthy families have moved to Gangnam-gu to give their children access to better schools. Also, to recruit smart and rich students, some high schools moved to Gangnam-gu, which became a social issue. Now, in the 21st century, people from Gangnam-gu who graduated from prestigious colleges tend to play an important role in society.
As a highly Confucian society, Koreans place a great emphasis on education. Korea's literacy ranks among the highest in the world. Many parents make great sacrifices to ensure that their children can have the opportunity to attain a high level of education. Students study very hard for most of the day, attending private lessons for language and music after regular school hours. From high school, most students spend all their time studying for the all-important college entrance examination to get into a good university. Even after graduating college, many workers continue to take language classes, study other interests, or pursue higher degrees.
Korean schools use a 1-6-3-3 approach (1 year for kindergarten, 6 years for elementary school, then 3 years each for middle and high school). The school year starts in early March and goes to February, with about 40 days for summer vacation and about 45 days for winter vacation. The Education Law mandates a minimum of 220 days of education each academic year for elementary through high school.
|