In the last 40 years, educational provision in Korea has grown at a rate unprecedented among OECD countries. Modern systems of education and training have been created, and rates of expansion have kept pace with demand for elementary, secondary, university and other forms of tertiary education. Despite these impressive gains, the Korean education system needs improvements to respond positively and creatively to the challenges of globalisation, the electronic revolution and the advent of society based on knowledge and information.

This review covers the entire education and training system, including vocational and tertiary education. It assesses the main directions of the reform proposals put forward by the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform in May 1995. It makes recommendations for improvements in such key areas as: access to education and training opportunities within the context of lifelong learning; quality of learning to foster creativity at all levels; improving the inner dynamics of the education and training system to provide a reformed, decentralised system; and the knowledge and information base for the effective performance of the education and training system.