WOW KOREA! (PART-X)

With a literacy rate of a whopping 97.9 percent South Korea has the second best education system in the world after Finland (Source: Pearson Report with data from the Economist Intelligence Unit). Did you know that South Korea also has also one of the best K-12 education systems in the world? And according to a UNESCO report in 2010-At 103 percent,South Korea has the highest tertiary gross enrollment ratio of any country in the world! 65 percent of Koreans between the age group of 25-34 have attained tertiary education (Source: *OECD, 2010) and over 97 percent in the same age bracket have at least finished their upper secondary education. Thus in both measures Korea ranks number one among OECD countries!

[* OECD stands for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and comprises of 20 countries from across the globe.]

Thus in the tenth post of Wow Korea series,I shall introduce my readers to South Korea as a destination for learning when I list out top five universities ranked globally at topuniversities.com (2014-15). The educational system of South Korea could make make a good research report for both developing and developed countries to observe the teaching models patterns implemented by educational institutions,the kind of resources and infrastructure invested towards giving an impetus to education and technology deployed for both teaching and learning when it comes to achieving this brilliant feat in the field of education.

THE 'MOTHER' OF ALL EXPERTS...OUR MOMMIES OF COURSE!

Words alone cannot describe that immaculate and formidable bond a mother shares with her child. Right from the moment when she feels those gentle tugs in her womb to the time we are born. Right from that one defining moment of her life when she hears her babe speak those incoherent babbles that she understands as mother and smiles with joy at our gurgles of laughter to the time we take those first flight of steps into the world...our life literally twirls around her finger.And on our every little achievement,our mother's rejoice as she rewards us with surprises and bestows her unconditional love,kisses and affection even as her dreams,hopes and aspirations take a backseat and her life now comes to be centered around us.

During our formative years,she dons the hat of a teacher when she takes our studies,helps us do our homework and shares many anecdotes from her life that lay the foundation to our future.In our years as a teenager,she graduates to becoming our best friend,someone in whom we begin to confide into on the pangs of adolescence (especially with all the changes that our body undergoes and those zits that pop up on our faces which send us into hiding! But she teaches us face them and look into the mirror as she gives us magical remedies to fight them too).And as we grow older when we reflect back on the years gone by and become parents ourselves,we come to admire her for her versatility and realize that she had one arduous task in her lifetime for besides being a mother she was also our best friend, guide,guardian,teacher,tutor,expert etc. - all rolled into one! And then we take on that mantle from her as we endeavor to replicate her teachings in our children.