In the books and articles that we read, they mentioned a lot about Hagwons. I imagined it to be like ALC (after school programs) back in the U.S. but the more I hear about it, the more worried I become for Korean students of all ages. I learned that they are becoming more and more like schools (hagwon academies). I also learned that hagwons also act as a “daycare” for parents who work full time and aren’t able to pick up their children from school. The first day here in Seoul, I saw a hagwon school bus pick up a student as I was wondering about the neighborhood around the school. It’s crazy, all the things I am learning about the Korean educational system here.
