The Education in South Korea is seen as the most important key to success and competition is consequently very heated and fierce. A centralized administration oversees the process for the education of children from kindergarten to third grade high school. Mathematics, science, Korean, social studies, and English are generally considered to be the most important subjects. Sometimes physical education is not considered important as it is not regarded to be education and therefore many schools lack high-quality gymnasiums and varsity athletics. South Korea was the first country in the world to provide high-speed internet access from every primary, junior, and high school. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/world/asia/02robot.html

The school year is divided into two semesters. The first begins in the beginning of March and ends in mid-July; the second begins in late August and ends in mid-February. The schedules are not rigidly standardized, however, and can vary from school to school.