Education Policy Outlook 2018

Korea

Context

Korea scored among the highest in the OECD in science in PISA 2015, with a mean score of 516 points, compared to the OECD average of 493 points. Performance in science remained stable across PISA cycles, with an average score change of -1.9 score points, while performance in reading and mathematics has stayed the same. Socio-economic status had lower-than-average impact on science performance in PISA 2015, explaining 10.1% of the variance in performance (OECD average: 12.9%). The impact of ESCS on performance in science has not changed since 2006. There was no significant gender difference in science performance in PISA 2015. Immigrant students make up 0.1% of the student population of 15-year-olds in Korea, the lowest rate in the OECD (OECD average: 12.5%).

Enrolment of 3-year-olds in ECEC was higher than the OECD average in 2015, at 92.3%, (OECD average: 77.8%). Pre-primary education is divided into three programmes that children may attend as early as age 3 and as late as age 5: a kindergarten course in a childcare centre (Eorinyijip), kindergarten (Yuchiwon), and a kindergarten course in a special school (Teuksu-hakgyo, Yuchiwon-kwajeong). Each programme lasts from one to three years. A national set of childcare standards (Standardised Childcare Curriculum) is in place for 0-2 year-olds. Compulsory education in Korea begins at age 6 and ends at age 14, shorter than the typical duration across the OECD. Students are first tracked into different educational pathways at age 15, later than the OECD average of age 14. Upper secondary education in Korea lasts three years and consists of general, vocational and specialist streams. Enrolment rates in general programmes are among the highest in the OECD, with 82% of students enrolled in upper secondary general programmes in 2014, compared to the OECD average of 56%. All upper secondary programmes provide students with a diploma and access to higher education.

VET consists of specialised high schools, which offer curricula based on preparing students for specific sectors of the labour market, and Meister schools, which train master craftspeople. Post-secondary VET graduates can advance to higher education, although the proportion choosing this option has been falling in recent years, with more graduates choosing to directly enter the labour market.

In the OECD Survey of Adult Skills in 2012 and 2015, adult literacy scores in Korea were higher than the OECD average, at 273 points, compared to the OECD average of 268 points. The gap in literacy skills between older adults (age 55-65) and younger adults (age 25-34) was higher than the OECD average. The proportion of the population aged 25-64 with lower secondary education as the highest level of attainment is lower than the OECD average, with an attainment rate of 8.1% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 14.3%. The percentage of the population aged 25-34 with a tertiary-level qualification is the highest in the OECD, at 70% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 43.1%. Employment rates for 25-34 year-olds with tertiary education are lower than the OECD average. In 2016, 75.2% were employed, while the OECD average rate was 82.9%.

Figure 7.15. Selected indicators compared with the average: Korea

Note: For each indicator, the absolute performance is standardised (normalised) using a normative score ranging from 0 to 220, where 100 was set at the average, taking into account all OECD countries with available data in each case.

Sources: OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en; OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en; OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.

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Evolution of key education policy priorities

Table 7.15. Evolution of key education policy priorities, Korea (2008-17)

Identified by	Equity and quality	Preparing students for the future
Selected OECD country-based work, 2008-171	The OECD identified a need to better define the goals and content of ECEC in order to improve its quality [2008].	The youth (15-29) employment rate is one of the lowest in the OECD, while the share of NEETs is high, reflecting a high level of labour market mismatch [2016].
Evolution of responses to EPO Surveys, 2013 and 2016‑17	The expansion of the private education sector (tutoring), continues to negatively impact education equity. Korea reported in 2016 that it has resulted in an education gap [2013; 2016-17].	Korea reported a need to respond to the challenge of establishing stable qualification and training system levels [2013; 2016-17].

1. See Annex A, Table A A.3 for the list of OECD publications consulted for this snapshot.

Additional education policies of potential interest to other countries

• In 2014, Korea extended after-school childcare for 3-5 year-olds (2013) to provide up to five hours a day of care for children. The Nuri Curriculum (the nationally-recognised universal curriculum for early childhood education) was applied to these additional childcare hours. Introduced in 2012 for all 5‑year-olds, it was first expanded in 2013 for 3-4 year-olds, before being applied to these additional hours in 2015. Also, after-school childcare classes are provided at primary schools, especially for children in Grades 1 and 2 from dual-earner, low‑income, and single-parent households. As of 2017, 24% of all children in Grades 1 and 2 participate in after-school childcare classes (ARNEC, 2016).

• Korea developed a National Competency Standard (NCS) and an NCS learning module (first implemented in 2013) to identify and standardise the competencies needed to successfully perform a job. These are constantly enhanced. A new curriculum based on the NCS has introduced vocational junior colleges, specialised high schools (which offer curricula based on preparing students for specific sectors of the labour market) and Meister schools (which train master crafts-persons). A Korean Qualifications Framework (KQF) has been established, which links levels of education, qualifications, field experiences and results of training based on the NCS.

• The government has established a programme of Employment First-University Later to reduce the high rate of advancement to higher education, facilitate lifelong learning and resolve the mismatch between the supply of students and labour market demands for particular skill sets. Measures under this system include restructuring the vocational education sector to better meet the needs of employers and offering more financial support to students in the vocational stream (OECD, 2016b).

More information available at: www.oecd.org/education/policyoutlook.htm.