At School for 17
Hours a Day
It
is 6.30 p.m. and the sun has only just come up when the two alarm clocks next
to Jie Sun’s bed ring simultaneously. She gets out of bed and goes to the
kitchen. Her eyes half closed, she hardly says a word while she eats breakfast.
Next to the table is her school bag which she packed the night before. It
weighs just over six and a half kilos. At 7 a.m., she says goodbye to her
parents and sets off to her school, just outside the capita city, Seoul. She returns
home at 6 p.m. for dinner but half an hour later she sets off again for a
private academy where she studies for another four hours. On a typical night,
she gets home at midnight and falls a sleep completely exhausted.
Studying
for up to 17 hours a day is a fact of life for South Korean secondary school
pupils. They live in a society where education is very important. There is a
great competition for a place at university. Getting good degree from a top
university is the only way to be sure of getting a professional well-paid job.
The normal secondary school day, as in most other countries lasts 8 hours. But
after that, most parents make their children stay at school extra classes. In
theory, these classer are optional, but in practice, they are compulsory. When
the school day ends, the children are not allowed to relax and enjoy
themselves. Most of them have to study all evening in libraries with private
academies.
Classes
of 50 are not uncommon and the teachers are strict. Pupils have to respect
after the teacher and memorize everything.”Teachers at my school don’t give you
any individual attention because they have not got time.” says Jie Sun. They
don’t let us ask questions because they say it wastes time. Young people like
Jie Sun have almost no social life. They rarely have time to see their friends.
Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is unthinkable. “I’ve never had a boy friend
and neither have any of my friends.” says Jie Sun. Our studies come first.
This
lifestyle may seem very hard to many European school Children who are
accuatomed to going most weekends and watching TV every evening. But on the
other hand, in many British schools, up to 40% of teenagers leave school with
no qualifications and the prospect of unemployment. So which system is really
better?
Sumber: Fitra P (English for Elementary Teacher
Novice)
Dificult
Word
1.
Simultaneously = bersama
2.
Capita city = ibu kota
3.
Returns = kembali
4.
Typical = khas
5.
Falls = jatuh
6.
Exhausted = keletihan
7.
Compulsory = diwajibkan
8.
Uncommon = luar biasa
9.
Strict = keras
10.
Rarely = hal yang jarang sekali
11.
Accustomed to = membiasakan diri untuk
12.
Unemployment = tidak berjabatan
13.
Themselves = mereka sendiri
14.
Wastes = arloji
15.
Accuatomed = menyesuaikan diri
16.
Teenagers = umur belasan tahun
