Education in South KoreaSouth Korea has come a long way in its education system, from the end of World War II to the 21st century. South Korea began reforming its education system after gaining independence from Japan to adopt a more Western-influenced system. The biggest decision made regarding the reform was to organize and install the new education system in 4 different stages. The first stage, universal elementary education, ran from 1945, after World War II, until the 1950s. The expansion of secondary education and equalization, the second stage, took place between circa 1960s and 1970s. The third stage, from the 1980s to the 1990s, focused on higher education and the quality of education, not the quantity. The fourth and final stage, which took place from the 2000s and beyond, focused on independence and innovation in the face of new problems in South Korea (Lee, 2-14). Through these four steps, South Korea was able to restore and revolutionize its education system, which had a huge impact not only on its daily life, but also on that of other developing countries. Directly after the end of World War II, South Korea was really in trouble. keeping children and teens in school and focused on their studies. In 1945, the date of South Korea's independence from Japan, the enrollment rate for children of primary school age was only 64% (Postiglione, 331). This figure is extremely high compared to the number of children out of school. This just goes to show that while education was important, it was not every family's first priority at the end of the war. The biggest problem in South Korean education in 1945 was the number of illiterate people. About 78% of South Korean children and adults aged 12 and above were ill...... middle of paper ......ng to become the best in the world.Works CitedLee, Chong Jae., Kim, Yong., and Byun, Soo-yong. The rise of Korean education from the ashes of the Korean War. Butler University Database. Springer. UNESCO. 2012. Internet. 06. September. 2012.Kauh, Kwang Man. A critical analysis of Korean education. The Phi Delta Kappen, Vol. 39, No. 3, Problems and Promises of Education in Asia. Phi Delta Kappa International. Internet. March 12, 2013. Postiglione, Gerard A and Jason Tan. Going to school in East Asia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007. Internet Resource. Butler University Database. Seth, Michael J. Popular demand and education in South Korea: a historical overview. James Madison University. Strother, Jason. “Pro-education campaign pushes South Korean families into the red.” Christian Science Monitor November 10, 2012: N.PAG. Premier Academic Research. Internet. December 2. 2013.