By Kim Yeun
A few days ago, I watched news about Seoul City Council's attempt to eliminate time restrictions on private institutions which limit private institutions running time up to l0:00 p.m. Jung Yeon-hee, a chairwoman of the Seoul City Council who pushes ahead with the plan, said ``I have never seen students who die because of studying.''
Her remark enraged me. I could not understand how she made such ignorant and inconsiderate remarks with regard to students' welfare as a person who handles tasks to improve students' happiness.
Living life in Korea as a student is hard. Students are tied up in schools for most of their time. They are irritated by frequently changing education policies and they are stressed out by the high costs of private institutions.
Firstly, high school students go to school at 8:00 a.m. and finish normally around 5:00 p.m. They are forced to participate in ``Volunteer Study Programs'' until 10:00 p.m. On average, students stay in their classrooms for more than 14 hours. During such long hours, students have no chances to exercise outside or to breathe fresh air. Instead, they are told to take a seat and study hard.
Secondly, public education in Korea is highly concentrated on university admission. So, students and teachers make plans for studying and teaching in accordance with the government's guidelines released at the beginning of semester.
However, the government has changed its education policies numerous times but never gave enough information whenever it announced the new policies. With the government's inconsistent and vague education policies, students and teachers are overly confused. Indeed, it leads students to study excessively vast amount of studies in various fields at the cost of less sleep and more stress.
Thirdly, due to the government's capricious education policies and unsatisfactory public education, many students rely on private institutions to obtain higher education services.
Private institutions are so expensive that it imposes a significant financial burden not only on students, but also on their parents.
It is widely known that some housewives work at karaoke rooms to make money required to pay the bill for their children's private institutions. Also, students who stay up late in private institutions become less diligent in school classes, resulting in worsening public education.
My friends and I used to call our school a prison and described ourselves as inmates who are imprisoned until 10 p.m. everyday.
Now, I really hope that President Lee Myong-bak and his aides can find ways to enliven public education and serve up happiness to students.
Kim Yeun graduated from Seowon High School in Gyeonggi Province.