You Mean You Have to Study In College?

Some Korean students in China are learning that you have to actually study to graduate college outside of Korea:

But this year, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and others started requiring Korean students to take separate entrance exams in English, math and general humanities or science, because so many of them have fallen behind in class or taken to absenteeism. Some schools now reportedly organize separate classes and exams for Korean students.

China will be hugely important in the 21st century, and it is therefore good that more of our youngsters study there. But we have a problem if a large number of them drop out because they lack motivation or the sense of a clear goal. Because China’s renowned universities attract the brightest Chinese students, about half of the Korean students there reportedly fail to graduate because they lead an undisciplined campus life and mingle only with other Korean students. That is a waste of youth and foreign exchange.

This story reminded me of the Korean students that attended my university years ago. I experienced two kinds of Korean students. There was the super smart students who studied all the time and did well in school or there was the ones who led a party life style. Plus the comment about the Koreans only mingling with other Koreans is very true. However, I can understand Koreans socializing together in a foreign country because I’m sure other nationalities are that way while over seas as well. Just look at Itaewon.

However, if Korea wants the majority of students going over seas to improve their study habits, the country will need to first improve the university system in their own country, where universities in Korea are looked at as being party zones. So why should people be surprised when that attitude is exported?