Alternative Schools

There is an alternative school in Korea with 15 students in each grade. I asked about it and I'm pretty sure they said the schools starts with kindergarten and has an elementary and middle school. I can't remember for sure if they said they have a high school.

Having been in Korea a while and having learned so much about the system of education, it's really hard for me to believe than anyone in Korea would allow their kids to go to a school like this. Their education is tough and really determines what people go on to do with their lives. The college entrance exam means almost everything. Most parents and others would say that kids going to alternative schools or being homeschooled have no chance of doing well on the exam and therefore no chance of getting a good job. Koreans look at their kids' future as their family's future.

The kind of people who would send their kids to alternative schools must be very unique people. I'm sure that a lot of people would love to do that but wouldn't because they think their kids need the traditional education. Knowing this makes me think that the people who would go for alternative schooling are even more unique.

This reminds me that once I met a hairdresser who told me her daughters were "attending" high school online through a program based in the US. This is a good option I think for Koreans who want their kids to have English education but can't send them to an international school or to another country.

I know a group of middle schools students studying at the alternative school I mentioned above who are spending most of one semester living and attending school in the country. They help cook and clean up after meals which I think is good because most Korean kids don't. They take field trips sometimes to nice places in the country such as Buddhist temples. The kids actually didn't really want to be in the country and away from their famlies and computer games, but their parents wanted it. So many parents would want this for their kids. I guess if other people in Korea heard about this they would probably say they wish their kids could do such a thing but they would feel it's impossible for their kids to leave their regular schools and institutes.