Korea to introduce 5-day school week

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldm.com)

The government will recommend that all primary and secondary schools adopt the five-day school week starting next year.

Currently, local schools rest every second and fourth Saturday in a month.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday that a pilot program will start at some schools in the second half this year as the new measure is likely to affect the pattern of family life greatly.

“The 40-hour working week is slated to start from July at all workplaces with more than five employees. There has been a growing demand for the five-day work week in a bid to foster a healthy leisure culture in which parents and children enjoy (time) together,” said Education Minister Lee Joo-ho in a news briefing on Tuesday.

“The Education Ministry along with other related government agencies have agreed to adopt the five-day school week and to join forces to soft-land the work week in Korea,” he said.

With the adoption of the five-day school week, the number of school days will decrease from the current 205 to 190, the OECD average.

A teacher and students conduct a science experiment at a Seoul elementary school. (Yonhap News)

Existing Saturday classes ― most of them focused on arts and sports activities ― will be conducted during weekdays, while the vacation days would decrease by up to four days.

The ministry expected that there will be no confusion in school curriculum as it had already revised education programs in 2009 based on the five-day school week.

To read more: http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110614000861

Thanks Mr. Jung for sharing this with me.

South Korea Bound

On July 31, I will be heading to South Korea along with several other educators from our school district here in Maryland. Our delegation will be traveling to Iksan, South Korea to exchange ideas about teaching and learning, share best practices and hopefully develop relationships that will turn into international school partnerships. I am so honored and excited to be chosen to be apart of this "once in a lifetime" experience. I am looking forward to learning so much from the people of South Korea and making new friends.

As I get closer to my departure date, I will write more about our group's itinerary and the goals of our delegation. Once I get to Korea, I hope to post information here on my blog about my various experiences and discoveries as I explore the beautiful country of Korea.

Have you ever been to Korea? Any advice you would like to share?