BBC News Is South Korean education 'best in world' — Transcript

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1. 0:01South Korea where a child's life
2. 0:03revolves around education regular school
3. 0:06is followed in the evening by private
4. 0:08school a double shift of schooling
5. 0:10making them some of the most formidable
6. 0:12pupils in the
7. 0:16world 16-year-old Hyman Goes to School
8. 0:19in gangam in Soul made famous by the pop
9. 0:22star
10. 0:27sigh after school she leaves with her
11. 0:29brother
12. 0:30but far from relaxing at home she sets
13. 0:32off again for her second round of
14. 0:36study even the little ones do a double
15. 0:39shift long after what might be
16. 0:41considered bedtime in the UK these tots
17. 0:44are still
18. 0:49working hman then spends hours here at
19. 0:52the Hagan or private Kar just like the
20. 0:55great majority of Korean
21. 0:57children I get tired usually but I can't
22. 1:01forget about my hardships when I see my
23. 1:05results because they're kind of
24. 1:10good hman gets home after 11: having
25. 1:13spent a mammoth 13 hours in study it's
26. 1:17bed at 2: a.m. and then up again at 6:30
27. 1:20to do it all over
28. 1:22again ker has few natural resources we
29. 1:25only have people so anyone who wants to
30. 1:27be successful really has to stand out as
31. 1:30a mother I don't feel comfortable about
32. 1:31this but it's the only thing she can do
33. 1:33to achieve her
34. 1:35dream the result of this non-stop study
35. 1:38is children who are fantastic at tests
36. 1:40we set these 15 and 16 year olds some
37. 1:43GCSE math questions they did them in
38. 1:45half the expected time with most of them
39. 1:48getting full marks I like going to
40. 1:50school because there are many good
41. 1:53friends and good teachers sometimes I'm
42. 1:56very tired like exhausted but I don't
43. 1:59don't mind because I'm starting now to
44. 2:03do what I want to do in
45. 2:05future for the economy this huge
46. 2:07investment in education has taken the
47. 2:09country in just two generations from
48. 2:12Mass literacy to technological
49. 2:14Powerhouse Korean brands are
50. 2:16internationally famous the country's
51. 2:19built itself up with extraordinary
52. 2:21single-mindedness since the end of the
53. 2:23war with North Korea 60 years
54. 2:25ago but Career Success has come at a
55. 2:28cost the pressure on Young people is
56. 2:30huge and the suicide rate is the highest
57. 2:32of all developed countries is this
58. 2:34pressurized environment really
59. 2:38sustainable I don't think any other
60. 2:40country has achieved such rapid growth
61. 2:43as South Korea in the past 50 years we
62. 2:46focused on school achievement and that's
63. 2:48put a lot of people under stress hence
64. 2:50the high suicide rates we still have a
65. 2:53long way to go but we're doing some soul
66. 2:55searching and we're trying to make our
67. 2:57people
68. 2:58happier
69. 3:01in many ways Korea is the Envy of the
70. 3:03Western World ministers in Westminster
71. 3:06and Beyond look longingly at its
72. 3:08education record and are remodeling
73. 3:10their own systems to try to compete but
74. 3:13Korea's phenomenal success has come at a
75. 3:15real price for its people a price the
76. 3:18country is now gradually starting to
77. 3:19weigh up Rita chakrabarti BBC News soul