Citizens of the United States value schooling but the American education system provides a faulty infrastructure to provide it. The American education system, though prestigious and moderately efficient, requires guidance from other countries who excel in areas the US fails. I do not suggest an absolute shift in America’s schooling techniques, but a more open worldview with a willingness to improve.

South Korea earned the title of number one educational system in the world last year, according to the article, “The Best Education Systems In The World In 2015.” The country boasts a 99.2% literacy rate for males and 96.6% for females. Considering South Korea’s population of 50.2 million people, the numbers soar through the roof in excellence. Korea focuses on providing their brains with not only academic information, but with moral and philosophical wisdom as well.

“[They aim] to improve basic abilities, skills and attitudes; to develop language ability and civic morality needed to live in society; to increase the spirit of cooperation; to foster basic arithmetic skills and scientific observation skills; and to promote the understanding of healthy life and the harmonious development of body and mind,” Richard Diem, Tedd Levy, and Ronald Van Sickle’s said in their article “South Korean Education.”

After completing middle school, 62% of students enroll into the standard high school and the remaining 38% enter a vocational school, or a school focused on certain fields of study such as science and engineering. Though the educational system in South Korea comes off as strict, their flexibility in allowing their students to pursue a desired subject at a younger age provides educational stability and ultimate success.

South Korea’s education system pulls from the same idea as America’s: providing each student with a detailed education over four academic subjects, along with other skills. Still, Korea allows students to select a designated field of study to pursue at a younger age. This flexibility provides the opportunity to experience a focus on one career and allows the student to rearrange their future occupation at minimal stress and price.

Standardized testing defines each American student’s ability, but the country can offer so much more. If the importance of creativity, social skills, and wisdom of a student leveled with the urgency of an SAT score, each and every American pupil would give more to society.

South Korea’s testing method eliminates any chance of students failure due to faulty testing skills, and examines every aspect of the student’s abilities, according to Diem, Levy, and Van Sickle’s. The country values creativity, logic and morals, while America’s education system mostly revolves around the intelligence of each student. A sense of balance in acknowledgement of all of the virtues a student offers would allow American students to prosper rather than fall into the depth of standardized tests.    

America can apply South Korea’s methods to its education system for a better academic and moral setup in schooling. American education, with an altered and improved basis, could function as one of the most efficient and beneficial schooling structures in the world and prepare its citizens to impact not only the country, but the world.