Intensive courses stressing students out

Students and teachers say the pace of classes under the intensive program is too fast for them to handle. By Oh Jong-taek "I even got tired of PE classes - four times a week, that is just too much

Students and teachers say the pace of classes under the intensive program is too fast for them to handle. By Oh Jong-taek

“I even got tired of PE classes – four times a week, that is just too much. This intensive program is definitely making our studies even more difficult”, Jin Yoo, a middle school senior, said.

When Jin was a sophomore, her middle school enforced an intensive program where students were to take lessons on a particular subject in a shorter space of time than usual, in just one semester or grade.

However, this new addition to the education system is to be abolished.

Intensive programs, also known as concentrated classes or condensed courses, are a new class formation that has been carried out since 2011.

Each school can decide how to allocate the number of units of classes for similar kinds of subjects. Social Studies and Ethics, Science and Technology, and Art and Music are categorized as similar class subjects. Students can take a three-year Social Studies course in one year, or take it during the usual three years, depending on the school’s decision.

This system was introduced for in-depth study of particular subjects in specific periods of time. The intensive program is efficient in the way that it allows students to concentrate on practical lessons like art or debate.

However, it is becoming a problem because students are finding it very difficult to understand the subject matter of the courses to a satisfactory level. People are also criticizing the program further, saying that the pace of the curriculum is too fast for students to grasp its content.

“Learning Korean History over just one semester is too much”, said an 18-year-old student named Kim Yi-seol. “I could not keep up with the pace of the class as teachers tried to teach a large amount of material at once”.

The difficulty in following the speedy pace of classes is shared by many other students.

Lee Hee-jung is one of them. Lee, who finished studying Korean History in her first high school year, said she had history class six times a week. “It was just too much. I couldn’t comprehend all the content in the textbooks”.

She said it is a serious problem, because it could result in teenagers’ lack of historical consciousness, which is a big problem these days.

Students are not the only group with criticisms. Teachers agree that the intensive program is causing agony.

One middle school teacher in Seoul, who asked to be identified by her surname, Lee, criticized intensive programs after she had taught them to her students. She said the purpose of the intensive programs is good, but “in reality it isn’t going smoothly”.

The most problematic aspect of the program, Lee said, is that teachers can’t get through all the educational content in time.

“When the Ministry of Education sets the course for the intensive program, the school has no choice but to follow the guidelines because the ministry is the superior organization”.

As the intensive program’s victims’ cries grow, the blame pointed toward the government increases consistently. And the Ministry of Education is being called upon to amend the education act.

“We understand that there is much opposition to the policy regarding the intensive programs”, said an Education Ministry official surnamed Kim.

“And that’s why we are trying to revise the policy”, Kim continued.

When asked about the harm that has already been inflicted on the students, Kim simply stated: “The intensive studying program is not as bad as it seems. Although many students and parents oppose the policy, we don’t see that many side effects. Our intention is to improve the ways students study”.

BY KIM SUNG-MIN, YOO HYUN-SEO AND LEE SANG-JIN

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