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On March the 1st 2006, Cheongshim International Academy, located in Ga-pyoung, held its first opening ceremony after the 6 years of preparation. Students, dressed formerly, full of hope and expectation of their flamboyant school, but their intentions were annihilated shortly afterwards. The primary goal of the school was to raise students to become globalized leaders with high academic standards. However, it has come to our attention that several issues, such as lack of preparation, the ideology of some of the faculty and inconveniency of the dormitories are starting to disturb the school��s working environment.
Most parents who are interested in private schools in Korea would have seen exaggerated advertisements through either newspapers or posters distributed by numerous academies. Those ads emphasized that the school provides extra curriculum that other Korean high schools do not operate. For instance, horse back riding, and a wide range of 2nd language classes. Neither of the courses was available but instead even the existing courses such as sports teams, were removed from the running curriculum after the first semester. One student said that the school does not provide even the most common courses such as French. This was due to the delay of employing teachers for the courses which resulted in forcing the students to take unwanted classes. Not only that, students also suffered through loss of time. Already the students have fallen behind compared to those in other private schools in Korea because of the late arrival of the counselors, or Advanced Placement course teachers.
Another issue mentioned among students was the forced division of gender. Presently, students are restrained by the separation of sex in reading rooms, lockers, and even group projects. The faculty of CSIA is over-conservative compared to that of other high schools in Korea or in foreign countries. By not being able to interact freely with the opposite sex could actually affect the students�� social life in the future. This is happening because of the mistrust of higher members of the faculty. If students of different genders were able to socialize, both could have new perspectives and creative knowledge which could have a positive effect on the idea of ACG.
Both students and teachers spend numerous hours in the dormitories both on school days and weekends. Some teachers even spend time during their vacation, not to mention more than the hundred children who applied for the CSIA Summer Camp. Compared to the number of people who reside, it seems there are not enough facilities.
Air conditioning, for example, is vital to survive the humid weather of Korea in the summer. The hot temperature not only leads the students into depression but also deprives them from concentrating on school work. It seems that the construction had been done in a rush in order to operate the new school. Also the designers had a poor grip on identifying the number of dormitory rooms and our convenience. Every semester, students move in to new rooms but are frustrated at the fact that they have to climb up to four flights of stairs with their heavy luggage. Furthermore, students carry their suitcases containing textbooks on the way home every weekend. If the school had provided a ramp instead of stairs, it would have been more convenient to everyone, including the dormitory staff members. There have also been many complaints from the girls�� parents because of male teachers living in the same building where the girls stay. Due to the lack of rooms in the boys�� dormitory, male teachers are forced to stay at the girls�� dormitories which encounter the teachers roaming around and interfering the girls�� privacy. If the arrangement of construction was planned in advance, these situations and complaints would not have occurred.
Currently the school is failing to fulfill the students�� hopes and expectations of the highly recognized school. To put a stop to the endless problems of the school the students, parents, and the staff must all cooperate. As the first students of CSIA, the students must set a good example in order to develop the school as well ourselves. As the saying goes, ��if you do not fasten up the first button correctly, the proceeding buttons will not be in its right place.��
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