South Korea’s middle school students continue to rank among the world’s top performers in academic achievement, but their personal development — particularly in peer relationships, emotional resilience, and autonomy — lags significantly behind. (Image courtesy of Yonhap）
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s middle school students continue to rank among the world’s top performers in academic achievement, but their personal development — particularly in peer relationships, emotional resilience, and autonomy — lags significantly behind, according to a new international study.
The Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI) recently released a comparative analysis based on the OECD’s 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluated the liberal arts and character education levels of 15-year-olds across 37 OECD member countries.
South Korean students ranked second in both mathematics and science, and third in reading literacy — affirming the country’s long-standing academic excellence.
They also placed fifth in overall humanities education, ninth in creative thinking, and eleventh in critical expression.
OECD study finds academic excellence overshadowed by low peer relationships and emotional well-being among Korean teens. (Image supported by ChatGPT)
However, the report revealed stark contrasts in other domains. South Korea ranked 36th — near the bottom — in student-peer relationships, and only 12th in parent-child relationships.
Notably, student-teacher relationships scored highest at first place, indicating strong engagement with educators despite weak peer connections.
In the collaboration category, students ranked second in trust but slipped to 12th in empathy and 26th in cooperation, showing significant variation across subdomains.
Emotional well-being metrics also painted a concerning picture: students placed 12th in emotional expression and 19th in resilience. While South Korean teens ranked second in independence, their scores in autonomy and self-agency were much lower, at 33rd and 20th respectively.
When it came to life satisfaction, South Korea ranked 27th in daily life, 29th in career exploration, and a dismal 36th in leisure activities.
“The results reaffirm the academic strength of South Korean students but expose critical weaknesses in interpersonal development and self-actualization,” the report noted.
To address the imbalance, the institute called for a stronger emphasis on humanities and liberal arts education. “Adolescence is a crucial period for social, emotional, and cognitive growth,” the report stated, stressing the need to integrate reflective and character-building opportunities into the school curriculum.
“Schools must offer broad-based educational experiences that foster autonomy, critical thinking, and a sense of dignity.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
