On the 28th of May, the KDI School and the National Youth Policy Institute (NYPI) hosted “NonSummit Meeting” at the Sejong National Research Complex. Around 150 guests, including students, professors, and researchers in the field of youth policy participated this event. The panel composed of nine young adults: Dasol Lim (2015 MDP, Korea) and Hyosang Seo (2015 MDP, Korea) as hosts while Piseth Samrith (2014 MPP, Cambodia), Aman Allah Fayed (2015 MPP, Egypt), Krystyna Oseana (2014 MDP, Philippines), Kanyanta Mubanga (2013 MDP, Zambia), Mai Phuong Nguyen (2014 MDP, Vietnam) and Casper Hendrik Claassen (2015 MDP, South Africa) participated as panelists. Also, there was a Korean representative from Baekseok University, Ms. Sung-ryung Seo.

The meeting allowed the student panels to freely discuss about their own countries, such as youth interests, level of happiness, or quality of life in and out of school. Youth policies for each nation were also discussed, especially those in regards to the education system. Interestingly, this non-summit meeting was held completely in Korean.

One major feature was found that students from developing countries had to study heavily in English in order to enter a recognized university or get a decent job. While some panelists see it as a good trend, it has seemed to reach the point where the nation’s own language was neglected to the point of dying out. Natives, even the panelists, noted the difficulties they had in using their own languages both in writing and speaking.

Dropping out of school is another critical issue in the education system in both developed and developing countries. Reasons include economic difficulty, lack of school provision uncertainty of future employment, and low performance at school. Unarguably, a high dropout rate has a negative impact on a country. The Korean panel mentioned, “When those students leave school at their early age, they can cause many problems to society.” According to the panelists, government of each country has made some efforts to support those students. Among others, vocational training schools have been established as the main mechanism aimed to absorb those young adults. However, all the panelists feel that government should do something more for those vulnerable youth.

As many of the audience were Korean high school students, the hosts asked the panelists about their opinions and thoughts on problems they saw in the Korean educational system. The six graduate students all agreed that there were several key factors which affect teenagers in Korea: workload of studying in and out of school via private tutors or academies. and strong competition to be admitted to high-ranking universities. The discussion session was followed by many active questions from the high school students who were eager to know about youth’s life and education in other countries.

This two-hour discussion was very helpful in order to understand youth around the world. The event also provided ideas that each nation could look into example of other nations and solve their own youth issues. All in all, the opinions from the non-summit meeting could also be used by the government in order to develop youth policies based on real concerns that come from perspectives of the youth.

Three High School Students Gain Unique Experiences at KDI and the KDI School

After the NYPI-KDIS non-summit meeting in May, KDI and the KDI School has extended its cooperation with local community by allowing three senior students from Sejong Global High School to experience a ten-day internship program.

Jae Hun Song, Jae Young Kim, and Min Ju Park were assigned to different divisions. Song and Kim said that this internship allowed them to feel the real working atmosphere. They were very thankful for this opportunity which provides experiences most high school students would not have. Park was impressed by the working environment. In addition, she implied that she could learn how to be responsible in a team. The interns commented: if there is another occasion provided by KDI and the KDI School, we will recommend this internship program to our friends.

By Sopheana Bronh (2013 MPP, Cambodia)