vocational differences among the different income groups. The Government has run
after-school programs with a view to strengthening public education, but the regular
curricular lessons more than double the extracurricular lessons as is illustrated in the
figures given in the Additional Report (para. 37-1). It should be noted again that high
private education spending is closely linked with the educational programs marked by
high competition and high emphasis on college entrance.
82. The Government should expand the public spending on education
remarkably and take appropriate actions to reduce the individual persons' burden
for the public education spending as compared to GDP.
Poor Conditions in Education Environment (CRC/C/KOR/3-4, para. 416~418)
83. According to the 2010 Diagnostic Study on Core Capabilities of Korean
Youth by the National Youth Policy Institute, the number of students per teacher is
generally higher than the OECD average, with 17.9 (14.4 on OECD average) in
kindergartens; 24.1 (16.4) in elementary schools; 20.2 (13.7) in middle schools; and
16.5 (13.5) in high schools. The number of students in a class is also high, with 30.0
(21.6 on OECD average) in elementary schools; and 35.3 (23.9) in middle schools. The
Government should take actions to improve the conditions of the education
environment so that both the number of students per teacher and the number of
students in a class may be lowered to the OECD average.
School Dropouts (CRC/C/KOR/3-4,
CRC/C/KOR/Q/3-4, para. 27)
para.
393~395,
422~423
and
432;
84. The 2010 Education Statistics shows that, in 2009, the dropout rate was
0.3% in elementary schools; 0.8% in middle schools; and 1.8% in high schools.
According to a report of 2011 by the Office of Education in Seoul Metropolitan City, the
number of dropouts in the elementary and secondary schools throughout the nation in
2009 alone totaled 61,910 in 2009. This accounts for 0.85% of the total students
(7,236,248), but the number of total dropouts is supposed to be much larger when the
dropouts in the previous years are taken into consideration. Meanwhile, according to the
data of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (in 2010), the number of
children that alternative schools can admit is 1,007 in 9 middle schools and 2,013 in 19
high schools. The 2010 Education Statistical Yearbook of the Korean Educational
Development Institute reveals that the number of non-schooling children was 305,000
in 2009 (which is divided into 73,000 in elementary-school-age children; 77,000 in
middle-school-age children; and 155,000 in high-school-age children.
85. The Government, in a bid to prevent school dropout, should require the
schools to appoint relevant specialists (for example, school-based social workers or
student counselors). It also should identify the status of non-schooling children and
set up the measures to prevent non-schooling. Furthermore, the Government
should take a range of actions to guarantee the right to learning of school dropouts
(including, by increasing alternative schools and introducing a re-admission
system).
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