"The winner-takes-all society," "the society that has the highest suicide rate," "the private education society," are all names that follow Korea. Students are trapped inside the burden of entrance examinations starting from a very young age. Due to the rank-centered education system of Korea, many students do not have any specific future goals even after they enter university. Therefore, due to the current education programs that do not foster any vision to students, the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) has decided to execute a revolutionary system named the "Free Semester Program."

Since the introduction of the program in 2013 with 42 schools selected as model schools, it has continuously expanded to numerous middle schools. At last, every school in Korea is expected to implement the program this year. The main purpose of the Free Semester Program is to foster students' dreams and talents by creating enjoyable school days and education programs. The system abolishes school exams completely for a semester for first or second grade middle school students. Until noon, students take ordinary classes, but during the afternoon, the students participate in various activities that aim to foster their dreams.

▲ Middle school students participating in a game as a part of the Free Semester Program. Provided by mju.ac.kr.

Plans of the Free Semester Program

Specifically, the program creates flexible school curriculums and focuses on participatory activities instead of burdensome exams. The activities include debates, experiments, and visits that introduce middle school students to various careers. By changing the previously exam-centered education into student-centered lessons, the program aims to regenerate cooperative learning. For example, by expanding various projects that are done individually and in groups, student can actively participate to yield creative results. Flexible curriculums that are provided to the students are as follows: career exploration activities, arts and sports education activities, club activities, and elective activities.

Based on the aptitude and talents of the students, the career exploration activities focus on systematic career education. The arts and sports activities provide 15 different art and physical education activities, including table tennis, cheerleading, and musical production. They also include a five-week art program, a five-week sports program , along with a five-week after-school program. While the career-finding programs focus on creating specific career plans and goals for the students, the arts and sports activities try to bring out students' talents and potential in order to achieve their career goals.

▲ Students presenting their performance in one of the activities of the program. Provided by news.use.go.kr.

A survey is conducted about the students' preferences before students can join clubs. Based on the characteristics and results of the survey and the students' career development test, students can participate in various club activities that aim to better help students in finding their dreams. Elective activities can be considered similar to club activities as they are based on the surveys of the students. However, they can encompass a larger variety of programs, such as 3D printer modeling practices. Through these various flexible curriculums, the KEDI hopes to transform the competitive education of Korean culture, one based on exams, into a system that enhances creative learning and other competencies such as personality and sociability.

Before the Program Successfully Takes Root

The goal itself of the Free Semester Program is a great step in bringing a change to Korea's troubled education system. According to the surveys conducted by the KEDI, the satisfaction rates of the teachers and the students of the model schools are generally high. For instance, the survey conducted during the second semester of 2014 shows an improvement of satisfaction of students from 3.79 to 4.02 out of five, and a rise of teachers' satisfaction from 3.85 to 4.02. The study also mentioned that a large number of students have replied that they had learned how and why they should study through the Free Semester Programs.

▲ The celebration of the Free Semester Program in 2015. Provided by newstomato.com.

However, according to Professor Kim Kyug-Keun (Education), the Free Semester Program has a long way to go before it is successfully implemented into the education system of Korea. The biggest obstacle of the program is in the persuasion of parents. Even though every school in Korea is going to initiate the program, the parents are not yet fully persuaded that this program will actually guide students into a brighter future. Since parents are not fully informed of what this program does and how it will be better than exams, the insecurity within parents is growing. This insecurity may lead to even more private education as some worry that this program might leave their children behind in the competitive education system of Korea.

If the program fails to reach its goal, it might arouse even more flaws in the Korean education system. For instance, parents might send their children to more institutions in preparation of high school entrance examinations, since they are free from the burden of school exams for that particular semester. Professor Kim added, “If this program ends in failure, future systems that also plan to reform the current education situation will have little chance to be implemented.” Thus, this might be the last chance for the education in Korea to change into a form that actually builds the characters and dreams of students.

In the end, however, if it does indeed take deep root into the Korean education system, it will definitely be a good step into growing future leaders who have specific longterm goals. In addition to what Professor Kim mentioned, the program should "not stop with one semester, but should affect the students for a long time." In other words, the program should be successfully improved in a way that can continuously stimulate the students to think about their future. Instead of the current Korean society in which many of the students aim to enter a prestigious university, the program frees students from exams and gives them time to explore careers and talents. Even if the only outcome of this program might be students seriously contemplating their dreams and visions, the Free Semester Program can be considered successful.