[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]How to improve schools

This year is my sabbatical term, and I am at the University of California in Irvine. My children are attending a nearby elementary school. Because public schools in the area are popular for their quality, many Koreans have immigrated here for their children’s education.
School facilities and the number of students in each class here are similar to those in Korea, but school operations are far more energetic. The school and parents contribute money together to buy more computers and better art teachers. Motivated teachers and parents make for a good school, and quality classes dispense with the need for private tutoring.
On the other hand, it is well known that Korea’s high school students are largely dependent on private tutoring. The government has worked for the past 35 years to improve the education system, but its measures heightened skepticism of the parents, and so private tutoring became more rampant.

by Sung Won-yongk