South Koreans see a lack of personality and sense of ethics among the country's elementary and secondary school students, calling on schools to focus on cultivating better values, a survey showed Monday.
According to the survey of 1,800 adults aged 19 to 65 on the public perception of the country's overall education system, 55.5 percent said primary, middle and high school students here have a low level of ethicality and personality, with a mere 9 percent saying the opposite.
The yearly survey was conducted last year by the Korea Education Development Institute, and has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.31 points.
Improving students' personalities and ethicality came first as the most urgent task for education authorities with 35.8 percent, followed by tackling school violence with 34.5 percent and reducing the heavy burden for educational expenses with 11.6 percent, according to the survey.
When asked what schools need to put greater focus on in order to nurture students down the road, the respondents pointed to programs that would help students build a desirable personality, the survey showed.
For elementary school students, 45.6 percent mentioned the importance of personality education, and 31.8 percent said creativity education;
for middle schoolers, 39.5 percent said personality education and 10.6 percent said sex education;
and for high school students, 27.3 percent said personality education and 25.1 percent said career education, according to the survey.
"A series of appalling school violence incidents, including suicide attempts by bullied students, likely led the public to put priority on ethics education," said the institute official,
calling for education authorities to come up with desirable measures.
According to the survey of 1,800 adults aged 19 to 65 on the public perception of the country's overall education system, 55.5 percent said primary, middle and high school students here have a low level of ethicality and personality, with a mere 9 percent saying the opposite.
The yearly survey was conducted last year by the Korea Education Development Institute, and has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.31 points.
Improving students' personalities and ethicality came first as the most urgent task for education authorities with 35.8 percent, followed by tackling school violence with 34.5 percent and reducing the heavy burden for educational expenses with 11.6 percent, according to the survey.
When asked what schools need to put greater focus on in order to nurture students down the road, the respondents pointed to programs that would help students build a desirable personality, the survey showed.
For elementary school students, 45.6 percent mentioned the importance of personality education, and 31.8 percent said creativity education;
for middle schoolers, 39.5 percent said personality education and 10.6 percent said sex education;
and for high school students, 27.3 percent said personality education and 25.1 percent said career education, according to the survey.
"A series of appalling school violence incidents, including suicide attempts by bullied students, likely led the public to put priority on ethics education," said the institute official,
calling for education authorities to come up with desirable measures.
