[Opinion] Something More Coveted Than the Nobel Prize

The educational background of director Kim Ki-deok, who has been awarded successive Director’s awards in international film festivals, is a middle school dropout. He does not like that discussed because he feels like that there is a nuance of the “Age of Success,” a TV program introducing stories of self-made men, “despite his only graduating elementary school.” He feels an artist should fight it out only by his work. It is unfair to see him in the frame of his educational background. However, in the current situation, where education is so problematic in Korea, his success raises the question of “what use is education?” If he had been educated like others, could he have become such a distinctive figure?

△I met an elementary school teacher from North Carolina of the U.S. while traveling. She asked me worriedly, “Is there anything wrong in Korea?” She explained that “suddenly, there came Korean students to the U.S. in droves.” She also said there was even a child who came alone, and it was quite pitiful to see his coming and going without uttering a word for more than six months. She even could not guess why this child was living abroad like an orphan apart from his parents. I could not explain the reason because I was ashamed of it.

△Koreans’ enthusiasm toward education is extraordinary indeed. Parents even move to houses that are leased in Kangnam in pursuit of educational opportunities. Mothers will work a part-time job in order to pay for private tuition expenses, and fathers are willingly becoming “wild goose daddies,” a term for fathers who stay in Korea apart from their families abroad to earn money for their children’s education. However, despite this grand enthusiasm toward education, there is no sign of a better educational outlook. The university entrance system has no consistency, and many intricate issues are waiting to be solved, such as an ongoing textbook ideology debate, early childhood education issues, the matter of high schools being put on a level playing field, and a high school ranking system. Accordingly, there are an increasing number of couples that want to live without children.

Some time ago, the New York Times printed a few words from David Politzer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics this year. He proudly said, “I appreciate my education in the U.S.” Those are such envied words for those who grew up in an inferior educational environment like us. Not only do I the Nobel Prize, but also I envy the educational system in which one can say so confidently that “I appreciate my country’s educational system.” When will we be able to say so?

Kim Mi-jin, Guest editorial writer and novelist, usedream@yahoo.com