IN A classroom in Seoul a throng of teenagers sit hunched over their desks. In total silence,they flick through a past exam paper. Stacks of brightly coloured textbooks are close to hand. Study begins at 8am and ends at 4.30pm, but some will not go domestic until 10pm. Like hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, or they are preparing for the suneung,the multiple-choice test that will largely determine whether they go to a fine university or a wrong one, or to university at all.
Over the course of a single generation in South Korea, and degrees have become close to ubiquitous. Seventy per cent of pupils who graduate from the country’s secondary schools now go straight to university,and a similar share of 25- to 34-year-olds hold degrees, up from 37% in 2000. Students scramble to gain admittance to the most prestigious institutions, or with exam preparation starting ever younger. Sought-after private nurseries in Seoul have long waiting lists.
South Korea is an extreme case. But other countries,too, have seen a big...
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Source: economist.com