The education ministry said Tuesday it will initiate a pilot test-free semester program for middle school students this year to provide them with chances to
experience a wide range of learning activities for their future career.
   
In March, the Ministry of Education announced its plan to implement the so-called free semester system for middle school students, where schools shift the focus away from test scores and teach students through such diverse engaging methods as discussion, experiments, outdoor activities, and team projects.
   
The activity-oriented semester program, a departure from the longstanding cramming method of education in a society with intense education fever, is one of President Park Geun-hye's key campaign pledges aimed to give students time to find their aptitude and foster creativity and innovation.
   
Before its full implementation in all middle schools nationwide starting in 2016, the pilot project will be administered at 42 schools nationwide for the fall semester and some 40 next year, the ministry said.
  
Under the program, each school is allowed to adjust up to 20 percent of its curriculum to allocate more time for career exploration activities, which means the weekly school hours for required subjects such as Korean, English and math will be cut from some 30 hours to 21 hours.
  
Students are also eligible to take at least two days off per semester for autonomous activities, according to the ministry.
   
For its successful implementation, the government plans to provide schools trying the new system with up to 40 million won (US$35,486) in subsidy. It will also send teachers to each school in charge of career counseling services for students and to provide them with a free aptitude test.
   
"We will support schools and local entities in inviting experts and instructors and opening more clubs in those fields in which students bear high interests such as film, animation, photo and sports activities," said an education ministry official.
   
While how to evaluate students is up to each school, teachers would describe details about students' activities for the test-free semester and write comments on their records, the ministry said.   

Students here are known for their excellence in math and science, but standardized tests and rote-learning combined with ferocious competition has been blamed for putting too much pressure on students and their parents and stifling creative and innovative thinking.
   
"This is the first, crucial step of our great journey to change the goal of education. The government has a strong will to make the free semester system a permanent part of the curriculum," Education Minister Seo Nam-soo said.
   
Parents and teachers spoke highly of what the government aims to achieve with the new program, but many expressed concern about whether it will lead students to resort to more private education and put heavier burdens on teachers in guiding students in a customized fashion.
   
"The government fails to link this program with the test-based college entrance system. I'm quite skeptical of its effectiveness," said a 39-year-old mother of an elementary school student in Seoul.
   
"Simple outdoor activities would not help students explore their aptitude. I am wondering how well the government is getting prepared in terms of infrastructure for this free semester program.

After all, students in rural areas would not enjoy diverse activities compared to those in big cities," said a mother of a middle schooler in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.   

Criticizing the government for its hasty push for the measure without enough discussions with teachers, the progressive Korean Teachers and Educational Workers' Union raised questions about the effectiveness of the program under the current competition-based education system.
   
Calling for the education authorities to devise longer-term plans to implement the system, the conservative Korea Federation of Teacher's Associations also said, "There exist concerns about a decline in the scholastic ability among students and the lack of infrastructure." (Yonhap News)