Hagwon

What's a Hagwon? Thanks to Wikipedia you can read all about the Korean Hagwon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagwon

Basically, it's more school. After attending school all day, students attend a hagwon for extra study in any number of specific courses. English, Science, Math, Computer . . . the list goes on. It's common for middle school and high school students to attend a Hagwon until 11:00 at night.

We have a lot of friends here who are employed at Hagwons. I'm thankful that they have jobs but wrestle with how Hagwon's are operated and if this is the best avenue of learning for students.

Many parents are dissatisfied with the Public School system so they send their children to a Hagwon. There is so much pressure to do well academically and this is a sure way of getting ahead in academics. That said the cost is expensive and parents make a lot of sacrifice to get their child all the education that they can.

For Hagwon owners, if you have a successful business, it can prove to be very lucrative--so no one really wants to get rid of the Hagwon.

We had a friend tell us that his mother would have him study until late into the night and then wake him up at 5:00am to study before going to school. He always fell asleep in his homeroom class--he just couldn't stay awake. He was told that he only needed 4 hours of sleep a night and that he should get use to it. What?

If you were to hop on the subway tonight at 11:00 you would see middle aged to high school aged kids on their way home from a full day of school and a full evening at a Hagwon.

Todd told his students one day that if he could, he would make a law that students could only attend school for 8 hours a day. If extra tutoring is needed, that is fine, but all students would only be required 8 hours of school.

The students said, "Mr. Stewart, we would vote for you."