SOUTH KOREAN EDUCATIONAL FEVER, PAST AND PRESENT: THE PARADOX BETWEEN TRADITION AND DEVELOPMENT

The article analyzes the phenomenon of South Korean educational fever, in which the process of joint development of the economic and educational sectors is observed. This process demonstrates that the compressed development, rapid economic growth, liberalization and globalization, were responsible for creating a highly competitive environment in the country. In this context, educational fever, characterized mainly by its high spending on private supplementary education, was fostered by competitiveness and pronounced credentialism, where standing out becomes fundamental in an inelastic labor market. Although education has been essential in national reconstruction and edification, the circumstances in which it was developed, caused an educational overheating, which has presented negative socioeconomic repercussions, especially regarding educational equity, inequality, stratification and social mobility.