Women denied access to education mourn principal who gave it back
"You have to go to your families and say, 'I am a student now, I have to study, so let's share the housework.'" Kim Sang-hyun, vice principal of Ilsung Women's Middle and High School, offered advice and encouragement to the students gathered in front of the platform on March 3 at Sinchon Methodist Church in western Seoul, at the school's entrance ceremony for the 2026 academic year. The women…
On March 3, at Sinchon Methodist Church in western Seoul, the entrance ceremony for the 2026 academic year took place at Ilsung Women's Middle and High School. Vice principal Kim Sang-hyun offered words of wisdom to the students, urging them to share household chores and become students themselves. The women, dressed in traditional Korean hanbok, appeared more composed and less burdened than typical teenagers, as many were adults returning to education due to financial hardships and gender inequality in the past.
Among them was 77-year-old Lee Bok-gae, an adult learner who had been denied access to education due to her circumstances. She was the eldest of seven children and had to work and care for her younger siblings, making her dream of studying a distant reality. That same day, her granddaughter also started middle school, and as she waved goodbye, the spirit of education seemed to prevail, honoring the principal who had given it back to these women.
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- Women denied access to education mourn principal who gave it back koreatimes.co.kr
