S. Korea to fully implement five-day school week next year

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The education ministry said Tuesday that it will allow elementary, middle and high schools nationwide to fully enforce a five-day school week from next year, a move in line with the spread of the 40-hour work week.
The government has been adopting a program in which students have five-day school weeks twice a month since March 2006, but it has remained cautious over the full implementation of the system with concerns over rising spending on private education.
Proponents, including the ministries of labor and culture, have called for shortening the school week to raise work efficiency and boost the leisure industry as the government is set to expand the 40-hour work week to small-sized workplaces from July.
Under the new system, each school will be given autonomy to decide how to adopt the system with approval from local educational offices.
About 10 percent of elementary and middle schools will test-run the new system from the fall semester ahead of the full implementation next year, ministry officials said.
Despite the fewer number of school days, the five-day school week provides the same amount of class hours with flexible class schedules, the officials noted.
According to a ministry's 2010 survey, 96.3 percent of teachers, 79.9 percent of students and 66.9 percent of parents were in favor of the five-day school week.
"We welcome the system as it allows parents to spend more time with their children for home education and field study, giving students opportunities to have a variety of experiences," said Kim Dong-seok, spokesman for the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations (KFTA).
ejkim@yna.co.kr