this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2024
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(Korea) Schools to extend extracurricular classes until 8 p.m. for first graders (www.koreaherald.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by MicroWave to c/world
29 comments fedilink hide all child comments
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[–] [email protected] 108 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I get providing childcare after school ends but why does it need to be classroom based? In Sweden after school ends you can enroll your kids in "fritids" (literally translated "freetimey") which is basically lightly trained adults supervising and organizing games and playtime and crafts etc. It's even available at night in places where there are industries with a night shift. Kids need play and fun and social activities not endless packing in of information.

[–] [email protected] 71 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

but why does it need to be classroom based?

Because Korean educational/work culture has become insanely unhealthy in terms of it's workload and competitiveness. Every student is competing for the "good" universities in Seoul, and if you aren't good enough for those and land in literally any other college or no college at all, then you're considered an abject failure. Students end up studying or working 14+ hours a day to accomodate this. Their entire country's work/life balance has become so incredibly skewed it's destroyed their future demographics as young people no longer have children, they do nothing but work constantly to be "successful".

[–] mriormro 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Pretty soon, South Koreans are just gonna strap into their work desks with a catheter out of the womb and get shoved aside the moment they croak to make room for the next one.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Shhh don't give them any good ideas

[–] Jessvj93 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Had this in my small town in America. They knew folks didn't have a whole extra mortgage to pay for childcare, so they paid some teachers more after school to watch those kids who parents worked later. We did hw, played games, got the playground to ourselves, then went home when mom and dad came. But in America this idea hasn't gone off the ground, idk why because day care centers are making a stealing.

[–] Misconduct 14 points 9 months ago

There were after school programs when I was a kid too and I wasn't in a small town. Just depends on where you are I guess. We'd start in the cafeteria with a small snack and then go to the playground for a while before hanging out in the gym goofing off and watching movies until we got picked up

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

basically lightly trained adults supervising and organizing games and playtime and crafts etc.

That sounds like a fun job. Is the pay shit?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I would doubt it. Shit even in Sweden pay for working at McDonald's is pretty solid.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

You'd be wrong, you can be paid shit in Sweden too. But then you usually pay lower taxes too, so maybe it evens out. Thanks to social system and healthcare included it is still better than in the US though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Some days I feel lucky to be born in Canada; some days I don't.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

By Swedish standards yes. It's a typical retirement job, most working long term are 50+ and tired of their old career track. The other portion of staff are young people just done with school in some care profession but hasn't yet found a steady job in their field.

Of course there are people that work there all their life but it's the exception in my experience.

I'd say in the rural areas the pay is sufficient, but in the major cities it's not, too much has to go to rent or you need to commute for way too long.

[–] [email protected] 88 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Because Korea doesn’t have enough issues with depression and work life balances as is.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek 18 points 9 months ago

Gotta get those issues drilled into the kids at an earlier age. That's sure to fix it!

[–] Thade780 72 points 9 months ago

Absolutely insane.

[–] Sanctus 44 points 9 months ago (2 children)

How about doing something about that abysmal work-life balance?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago

If you tip things far enough in the work direction the whole balance falls off of the fulcrum and lands on the floor, where it becomes completely stable. You can then pile as much work on as you want without budging it further.

[–] Acronychal 4 points 9 months ago

This is getting them ready for that.

[–] fastandcurious 40 points 9 months ago

What the fuck!?

[–] RememberTheApollo_ 38 points 9 months ago

So parent can work longer hours.

[–] RizzRustbolt 33 points 9 months ago

Speedrunning the collapse of Capitalism, I see.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When exactly are they supposed to, you know, be kids?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 9 months ago (2 children)

They're not qualified. Maybe after they've been sufficiently trained.

[–] alphacyberranger 10 points 9 months ago

They are not qualified to be kids since they don't have the minimum experience of 15 years being a kid , no proper certifications and an inactive Github profile.

[–] CaptainSpaceman 5 points 9 months ago

Once they've paid their debt to society and are allowed to retire at the ripe age of 86

[–] Linkerbaan 15 points 9 months ago

Korean wagies rejoice now they can work even longer hours.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This is frustratingly light on details of what exactly the kids will be doing for the 7 hours after regular classes end. The best we get is this one paragraph:

Before the public debate, Yoon attended a K-pop dance class and an abacus math class -- part of Neulbom School programs provided at the elementary school Hanam, one of 459 institutions that applied for the state's pilot project since last year.

So it's still a little unclear how much these fit the definition I would provide for extracurriculars. When I was in school, extracurriculars were fun—various music bands and sporting clubs probably made up the majority of options, with various other miscellaneous options also available. A K-Pop dance class definitely fits in with that. Abacus maths? Uhh, maybe? I know I never learnt that in school and I don't think it's an especially useful skill. So it could be a thing people are doing because they enjoy it. But it could also be an excuse for getting extra conventional education.

What you've got to measure this against is the pre-existing prevalence of hagwon. Hagwon is essentially privately run extra schooling, designed entirely to provide kids with more regular school than what regular school provides. Nearly every child in Korea goes to hagwon. Heck, Korean students outside of Korea overwhelmingly attend, if there's a strong enough Korean expat community to support it.

If schools are providing an alternative activity in the evening for students which is event a little bit lighter on the educational content and heavier on fun, and offering it to parents at a lower cost than private hagwon, I see this as a win. Not nearly as much of a win as parents finishing work at a reasonable hour and being able to spend it doing things with their child themselves, but a modest improvement on Korea's status quo.

For context, I spent some of my childhood years living as an expat in Korea, and then my teenage years as an expat in a different country at a school where I'd guess about 20% of students were Korean. I've seen a lot of this firsthand.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

How to start the 15 year long process of creating suicidal adults.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Are these scholastic classes or after school programs?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Korean Government: "What's the difference?"