A group of teen girls take part in an impassioned rehearsal for a play in Seogwi Jungang Girls’ School on Jejudo Island. They seem to be having the time of their lives as they take a break from the intense pressure of academic work.

It is part of a drama class at a middle school that is participating in the government-initiated “Jayu-hakgi-je.” Translated as “free semester,” it is one of President Park Geun-hye’s flagship education projects. The program exempts first-year middle school students from exams for a semester and allows them to obtain vocational experiences through extracurricular programs.

Schools have been told to come up with programs that can expand students’ thinking about job opportunities, rather than focusing on rote memorization to pass exams.
 
Byeon Jong-su, an actor in charge of the drama class at Seogwi Jungang, said the purpose of his program is to allow students to “learn by playing.”

“As of now, a career in acting is not the goal for all of these students. A lot can change as they get on with their lives,” Byeon said. “But through these enjoyable experiences, students can come across things that they can take away from (the lessons) like teamwork and presentation skills.”

Kim Ah-hyeon, a second-year student at the school, said the free semester class she participated in last year gave her a plenty of opportunity to give presentations. It marked a change from the traditional method of students just listening to lectures by teachers.

“I also had some run-ins with my teammates (for the presentation) but we were also encouraged to work on finding ways to resolve such issues. This experience will help me settle differences with my colleagues when I get an actual job,” she said.

The test-free semester was tried out for the first time at 42 middle schools in 2013. This year, Jeju Education chief Lee Seok-moon made the island the first province in the country to apply the new program in all middle schools.

It is to be applied to 50 percent of all middle schools in the country next year, and to all middle schools by 2016. Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea, however, said around 70 percent of schools had already initiated the program.

He vowed to issue a special budget as the minister to accept as many applicants as possible.

“The free semester can be a time when students get to think about what they can do, what they are supposed to do, rather than getting hung up on school grades,” Hwang said during a news conference Monday.

The minister urged government organizations, corporations and other institutes to actively cooperate in providing vocational training for students.

“For students to take the next step into the society, a transitional step is needed. There needs to be a systematic change for employees (of organizations) to recognize that they are taking part in an educational process,” he said. “They need to think of themselves as teachers because those sort of experiences can change the overall direction of students’ lives. It is the ministry’s and education offices’ job to ensure that this happens.”

While this is a policy pushed by the conservative administration, Lee ― regarded as a progressive educator ― said people should look past ideological standoffs to think what students need in order to be happy.

Hwang, who is also a lawmaker for the ruling Saenuri Party, vowed to take legislative actions to make the program permanent.

However, it is not without flaws. Seogwi Jungang has the advantage of having deep pockets as it is one of Education Ministry-certified "leaders," which are given about 50 percent more funding than other schools in the program. Other schools are constrained by their finances.

Even Seogwi Jungang has had some hiccups. Contrary to the school’s claims that all but nine students answered they were satisfied with the new program in a school-wide survey, a first-year student said “a little less than half” of the students around her are unhappy with it. While the school gathers student opinions on possible places to visit, it is not always reflected in the final decision.

“We don’t really get a say in which companies or factories we can visit. The teachers just pick it for us,” she said.

Seogwi Jungang teacher Han Sang-hee said the education authorities need to provide some administrative assistance for the program. For example, teachers burdened with the task of preparing extra lessons under the program have to do it in addition to preparing for their usual lessons.

Park Hyang-chun, another teacher, said the school would no longer have the extra budget as a leading school when the program is expanded throughout the country. Park urged the authorities to make efforts to minimize the possible side effects when every middle school in the country starts conducting the program.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)