President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition committee has been creating increasing confusion over its plan to strengthen English education, which required all subjects to be taught in English, even math and science. The committee announced in January 24 2008 that Korea’s high schools will be likely to conduct regular classes in English starting from 2010 . They made announcement before even a week since the introduction of the measure. English immersion programs will be introduced at some elite private and public high schools starting this year and will be gradually expanded to ordinary high schools nationwide. It is intended to reduce private education expenses and to make younger generation well-prepared for globalization. But many people including the teachers-unions and opposition parties are upset and oppose such a hasty decision, because with that policy, there will be a lot of problems like training and hiring. There are many debates over the issue around the nation. Some people say education reform is just a way for an administration to show off. Some people say it’s necessary to respond better to global demands. Recently I’m keeping a close eye on how they’re going to develop this issue. Watching this development is kind of my responsibility as a Korean citizen. The President Lee’s decision seems quite strong, so the committee is not likely to change their mind even though many people have expressed concerns.
I think English education policy can cause many side-effects. First, many parents who don’t know English well would suffer when they teach children. Parents have no way to deliver their lessons or knowledge unless they make extra effort to study English. They might lose the position as the most influential mentor of their children. Second, our children can possibly underestimate the value of our language. With the policy, all they use is English, not Hangul. Many children will probably think English is more important than Hangul, as a result, no longer take Hangul seriously. We can imagine how dangerous consequences may happen.
I admit it’s inevitable to study English. Somehow, I also understand why the government is pushing its decision so hard even against many people’s concerns. But when it comes to policy reform, I think it should take long time to carefully go over all the related issues before implementation. It’s not supposed to be changed overnight.
As well, the government should not only focus on the language issue, what they really need to change is our education system. I’ve been receiving the same education for a long time. I’m getting sick of confirmity. Most schools force students to study the same things no matter what students are interested in or good at. It’s one of our biggest problems in education need to be changed and it’s time to move toward a more western way which encourages more creativeness and allows students to find their interests or abilities. I hope they can turn their attention to a bigger picture rather than sticking to a small picture.
