<![CDATA[Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week?]]>Korea to introduce 5-day school week

Lee Ji-yoon | Korea Herald/Asia News Network | Wed Jun 15 2011

The number of school days will decrease from the current 205 to 190.
The government will recommend that all primary and secondary schools adopt the five-day school week starting next year.

Currently, local schools rest every second and fourth Saturday in a month.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday that a pilot program will start at some schools in the second half this year as the new measure is likely to affect the pattern of family life greatly.

“The 40-hour working week is slated to start from July at all workplaces with more than five employees. There has been a growing demand for the five-day work week in a bid to foster a healthy leisure culture in which parents and children enjoy (time) together,” said Education Minister Lee Joo-ho in a news briefing on Tuesday.

“The Education Ministry along with other related government agencies have agreed to adopt the five-day school week and to join forces to soft-land the work week in Korea,” he said.

With the adoption of the five-day school week, the number of school days will decrease from the current 205 to 190, the OECD average.

Existing Saturday classes ― most of them focused on arts and sports activities ― will be conducted during weekdays, while the vacation days would decrease by up to four days.

The ministry expected that there will be no confusion in school curriculum as it had already revised education programs in 2009 based on the five-day school week.

The ministry also decided to strengthen follow-up measures for the possible academic loss in case of children from low-income households or with double-income parents.

Adding to the current similar programs conducted by related government offices, the government will support schools in preparing for extra activity programs on Saturdays.

Even though whether to implement the five-day week at individual schools is still to be decided by local governments and educational offices, social consensus on the five-day school week has been formed through years of discussions.

In an April survey by the Korean Federation of Teacher’s Association, 77.8 percent of the 2,323 parents and 87.9 percent of 2,442 students nationwide favored the full implementation of the five-day school week.

In a separate survey, 66.9 percent of the responding 2,298 teachers also agreed to the new measure.

Internationally, Japan has already carried out the five-day school week, while in some U.S. states schools only keep their door open four days a week.

However, some civic groups and parents have continued to express concerns about the children-left-behind.

Because the government’s measure is targeting mainly the first- and second-grade students and children of underprivileged households, most upper graders at elementary schools and middle school students are unlikely to benefit from them.

“The measure is aimed at encouraging children to spend more time with family and do other creative activities. But in reality it’s very hard for parents to do such special activities every week,” said Choi Mi-sook, head of a school parent community Haksamo.

“After all, many parents would send their children to private academies during the weekend, while low-income parents would have no choice but to keep their children idle,” she said.

Choi added the new system should be implemented in phases and more education programs be developed.

The Education Ministry plans to revise the related law by August to adjust the number of class days, while setting up a cooperative network of related government offices.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/23150/do-you-know-korean-kids-in-school-gt-5-days-a-weekRSS for NodeSun, 21 Jun 2026 08:54:15 GMTThu, 16 Jun 2011 09:43:45 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:48:57 GMT]]>

AceTutors123:
phankao:

[quote=\"rosemummy\"]
Upbringing can override nature if it's really draconian, like that in North Korea or some of the military regimes. In normal societies like ours, it can make a significant difference, but the child's nature has a large part to play as well.

I think nature has a large part to play certainly. If you have 4 very different kids where there was no difference in their environment or upbringing like we do, you'd understand.

Unless you are saying that school environment makes a difference? But same school leh, except for 1.

im thinking probably is the people they hang out with also upbringing.
im sure you dont really treat all of them the same.

tuition in singapore is actually quite scary already.
people have been telling me that dont have much time for tuition because their time are taken up for other tuition whether it is class or private tuition..[/quote]Well, they all started out the same. I've been their primary caregiver all along. No grannies, nannies, etc. But one very independent and don't mind tuition but prefers not to have, another also very independent but kiasu and loves tuition but now no time to have, another very very cheena(where did that come from?!) and very cheeky and hates tuition and refuses to when he's the one that needs it most. Don't know about the youngest yet.

But yes, school and cca takes up quite a lot of time esp in secondary school these days. Come back only at night. Where got time for tuition, seriously?

Do tuition also need to do extra homework, right? *faint*. So it takes really willing, hardworking and very very motivated kids to be on the type of schedule like Korean/Jap or even HK kids that we read in the straits times recently?! I cannot imagine our kids agreeing to that type of schedule. Unless perhaps it's like \"herd mentality\" (all my friends same, so I also must). I guess in Singapore, this is more rare than the norm, so our kids would probably not agree .

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449695https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449695Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:48:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:25:47 GMT]]>

phankao:
rosemummy:


Upbringing can override nature if it's really draconian, like that in North Korea or some of the military regimes. In normal societies like ours, it can make a significant difference, but the child's nature has a large part to play as well.

I think nature has a large part to play certainly. If you have 4 very different kids where there was no difference in their environment or upbringing like we do, you'd understand.

Unless you are saying that school environment makes a difference? But same school leh, except for 1.

im thinking probably is the people they hang out with also upbringing.
im sure you dont really treat all of them the same.

tuition in singapore is actually quite scary already.
people have been telling me that dont have much time for tuition because their time are taken up for other tuition whether it is class or private tuition.

Some centres are charging exorbitant rates for their classes as high as $50 per hour for primary 1. i've also heard from some that their revenue is high as 4million per school term.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449689https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449689Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:25:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:25:24 GMT]]>

rosemummy:

Upbringing can override nature if it's really draconian, like that in North Korea or some of the military regimes. In normal societies like ours, it can make a significant difference, but the child's nature has a large part to play as well.
I think nature has a large part to play certainly. If you have 4 very different kids where there was no difference in their environment or upbringing like we do, you'd understand.

Unless you are saying that school environment makes a difference? But same school leh, except for 1.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449612https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449612Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:25:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:16:44 GMT]]>

Happy Mama:
rosemummy:

The Korean system is a lot tougher than ours. My daughter's Korean friends were not allowed to use calculators in school. They had to memorise everything from square root to log. Most have good memory and are really good in Maths. Many of them speak several languages too. In fact, those studying overseas are all doing very well academically. That's partly due to the tough training they had from young.


Wow! It's not easy to memorize everything from square root to log.

memorising log ....wow..... :yikes:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449608https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449608Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:16:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:13:50 GMT]]>the tuition fever in hong kong, taiwan, korea and china is worst than spore. i see already also go :siao: .

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449604https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449604Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:13:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:10:39 GMT]]>

3Boys:
phankao:

[quote=\"poppy15\"]just like china also... though 5 days sch week but weekends are not for leisure also - the kids attend remedials, tuitions, academic enrichments, etc...


think the only free time is during lunch & dinner 😓

I think the kids in these countries are still all way more hardworking than ours, especially in attitude. *sigh. I wish ours had a way more positive attitude instead of rebelling.

Kids are not born rebellious or obedient. They are brought up that way.[/quote]Both nature and upbringing have a part to play. How else do you explain cases of siblings being brought up under similar circumstances but turning out differently? It's not uncommon to see a wayward child in a family with siblings who are obedient and filial.

Upbringing can override nature if it's really draconian, like that in North Korea or some of the military regimes. In normal societies like ours, it can make a significant difference, but the child's nature has a large part to play as well.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449600https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449600Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:10:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:07:43 GMT]]>

3Boys:
phankao:

[quote=\"poppy15\"]just like china also... though 5 days sch week but weekends are not for leisure also - the kids attend remedials, tuitions, academic enrichments, etc...


think the only free time is during lunch & dinner 😓

I think the kids in these countries are still all way more hardworking than ours, especially in attitude. *sigh. I wish ours had a way more positive attitude instead of rebelling.



Kids are not born rebellious or obedient. They are brought up that way.[/quote]You have 1st hand experience, is it?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449054https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/449054Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:07:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:55:51 GMT]]>

phankao:
poppy15:

just like china also... though 5 days sch week but weekends are not for leisure also - the kids attend remedials, tuitions, academic enrichments, etc...


think the only free time is during lunch & dinner 😓

I think the kids in these countries are still all way more hardworking than ours, especially in attitude. *sigh. I wish ours had a way more positive attitude instead of rebelling.

Kids are not born rebellious or obedient. They are brought up that way.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448938https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448938Fri, 17 Jun 2011 02:55:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:38:49 GMT]]>

Happy Mama:
rosemummy:

The Korean system is a lot tougher than ours. My daughter's Korean friends were not allowed to use calculators in school. They had to memorise everything from square root to log. Most have good memory and are really good in Maths. Many of them speak several languages too. In fact, those studying overseas are all doing very well academically. That's partly due to the tough training they had from young.


Wow! It's not easy to memorize everything from square root to log.

Yes, so that trains their memory, which is an important element is excelling academically since open book test / exam is not all that common.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448746https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448746Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:38:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:31:26 GMT]]>

rosemummy:
The Korean system is a lot tougher than ours. My daughter's Korean friends were not allowed to use calculators in school. They had to memorise everything from square root to log. Most have good memory and are really good in Maths. Many of them speak several languages too. In fact, those studying overseas are all doing very well academically. That's partly due to the tough training they had from young.

Wow! It's not easy to memorize everything from square root to log.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448740https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448740Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:31:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:23:27 GMT]]>The Korean system is a lot tougher than ours. My daughter’s Korean friends were not allowed to use calculators in school. They had to memorise everything from square root to log. Most have good memory and are really good in Maths. Many of them speak several languages too. In fact, those studying overseas are all doing very well academically. That’s partly due to the tough training they had from young.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448733https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448733Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:23:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:24:28 GMT]]>

poppy15:
just like china also... though 5 days sch week but weekends are not for leisure also - the kids attend remedials, tuitions, academic enrichments, etc...


think the only free time is during lunch & dinner 😓
I think the kids in these countries are still all way more hardworking than ours, especially in attitude. *sigh. I wish ours had a way more positive attitude instead of rebelling.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448710https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448710Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:24:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:15:07 GMT]]>I understand from this article that longer school means government fund more of the courses which is not a bad thing if they are effective in Korea. However, if staying in school longer hours with ineffective \"teach less learn more\" in SG....then.... no thanks... :dowan:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448428https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448428Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:15:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:09:02 GMT]]>just like china also... though 5 days sch week but weekends are not for leisure also - the kids attend remedials, tuitions, academic enrichments, etc...


think the only free time is during lunch & dinner 😓

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448421https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448421Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:09:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:58:22 GMT]]>Ah Bee, now they learn from us...go 5 days...but lot of tuition over the weekends...:lol:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448404https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448404Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:58:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you know - Korean kids in school &gt; 5 days a week? on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:50:44 GMT]]>Thanks for the info.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448388https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/448388Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:50:44 GMT