Greed for Elite Students Threatens the Roots of Public Education

President Roh Moo-hyun said, “The greed of certain universities that focus on admitting students with good grades rather than fostering elites is shaking the roots of public education in Korea,” on May 13.

This can be interpreted as an indirect criticism of Seoul National University’s controversial policy to strengthen the essay and oral portion of its entrance exam, a policy that has been regarded a resurrection of a former examination method.

In an e-mail message titled, “Carnation Message With Love,” sent to 321,265 kindergarten to high school teachers in commemoration of the 24th Teachers’ Day, President Roh wrote, “Society is once again troubled over the reformation of college admission policies.”

President Roh also mentioned that, “It is certain that education must take place in school, though we must devise a logical way to do so through much discussion,” and emphasized, “Students must learn from a teacher in order to grow into a humane and creative elite member of society.”

President Roh then added, “It is regrettable that teachers and even school education itself is losing credit due to the errors of certain teachers. As much as most teachers are talking the hard road armed with their pride and sense of duty, and are working hard to reform education and recover their trust, their efforts will someday bear fruit.”

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com