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Education
and Literacy in Korea
According
to ancient history texts, formal education began during the Three Kingdoms
period (57 BC-AD 668) under the influence of the Chinese educational
system. Higher education in all these kingdoms tended to be focused on the
study of Chinese classics of Confucian orientation. The
institutionalization of the civil service examination in the mid-10th century
set the pattern for educational reform, by directing the role of education
toward preparing young men for public service.
By
the late 14th century, Buddhism gradually declined and so did the central
government. The founders of the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910) turned to
Confucianism as the source of basic principles for national politics, ethics and
social institutions. Education during the
Choson Dynasty was mainly viewed as a means to prepare young aristocratic men
for future public service.
The
waves of Western culture and modernization that reached the coast of the
"Hermit Kingdom," as Korea was known to the West, were powerful enough
to move King Kojong to issue an edict in 1882 upholding education as one of the
"pillars" of the nation and opening the doors of state-operated
schools to citizens of all classes. Yugyong kong-won, Korea's first
school in a modern sense, was established in 1886. It employed
American missionary teachers who taught English with the aid of interpreters.
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Information
provided by the Korean Embassy
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