Less than half of parents in South Korea are pleased with the quality of teaching their children are getting from school, the lowest among the countries surveyed, an international poll showed Tuesday. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Less than half of parents in South Korea are pleased with the quality of teaching their children are getting from school, the lowest among the countries surveyed, an international poll showed Tuesday.
Forty-three percent of 1,000 respondents with kids aged 4-18 said they find the education provided to their children “fairly good” or “very good,” according to the Global Parents Survey by the Varkey Foundation.
It is the lowest level in 29 countries surveyed for the in-depth research conducted through online interviews between December last year and mid-January.
Russia and Germany trailed behind with 48 percent and 57 percent, respectively, followed by Japan and Turkey. In contrast, Kenya recorded the highest rate of 92 percent in terms of satisfaction, with the United States at 91 percent and India at 87 percent.
The survey, however, noted that the results showing parents’ low satisfaction over the quality of teaching contradicts with the country’s 11th ranking out of 70 nations in the global assessment on the academic performance of 15-year-olds, known as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The survey also found that 52 percent of Korean parents picked “a happy environment” for children as the most important factor when choosing a school, higher than any other country surveyed.
Concerns about children not being sufficiently prepared for the future were part of their biggest issues, according to 52 percent of respondents. Over a third of the respondents said they are worried about discrimination and inequality at school.
(Yonhap)
