(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on July 13)

Poor history education

Seoul National University has taken the initiative to encourage students to learn
national history.
Under the admission guidelines, from 2014, SNU applicants will face disadvantages
in screening unless they complete a national history course at their high school.

The state university made the decision following the conclusion that no student
can become a national leader without knowing the basic facts of Korea's history.
It also made it a requirement for SNU applicants to complete either a second
foreign language or Chinese character course.
Over the past decade, the government has given high schools discretion in picking
elective courses, including history.
High schools have de facto suspended classes for national history as the subject
is irrelevant for college entrance.
The result is a lack of common sense on national history among young students.
When disputes over historical facts took place between Korea and the neighboring
countries, young students could not make a logical judgment due to a lack of
knowledge.
Lamentable is the fact that the younger generation does not know basic Chinese
characters as the subject has become an elective at high school.
They spend an incredible amount of time studying English but they pay little
attention to learning basic Chinese characters.
It may not be an exaggeration to say that without knowing about China, people may
not know about half the world. China is the world's second largest economy. The
Korean economy is more closely linked to the Chinese economy than the American
one.
SNU should not be alone in adopting these rules. All universities need to adopt
this system to normalize high-school education.
(END)

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