stemmed for causing labor shortages in various skilled blue collar labor and vocational occupations, where many go unfilled as the negative social stigma associated with vocational careers and not having a university degree continues to remain deep-rooted in contemporary South Korean society. History Pre-division period Education has been present throughout the history of Korea (1945–present). Public schools and private schools have both been present. Modern reforms to education began in the late 19th century. Since its early history, Korean education has been influenced significantly by Confucian values particularly in its emphasis of formal learning and scholarship through China more than fifteen centuries ago. Confucianism instilled facilities like governance of men by merit, social mobility through education, and the civil examination system based on the system that was developed in China during the Tang Dynasty. As a result, written word and mastery of Chinese classics and literacy became the primary method in choosing individuals for bureaucratic positions, gaining them a respective social status and privileges. The Chosun period was significant in shaping the dynamics and foundation of the Korean education system in that it established schools that ingrained loyalty, orthodoxy, and motivation for official recruitment into its students. The primary means to receive an education during the Chosun period were through village schools (sodang; sojae) and through private tutoring. The sodang was the most common method of formal education in Korea until the late twentieth century, and was usually available only to a handful of neighborhood boys starting at around age seven. In the middle of the sixteenth century, however, the role of official schools gradually declined with the emergence of private academies (sowon), which usually functioned as rural retreats and centers of learning until the majority of them were closed in the 1870s in an effort to centralize authority. Preparing students for competitive examinations were pronounced during the Chosun era as a means of social mobility and selection of official positions, and remained a basic tenet in Korean education throughout its history. However, this extreme emphasis on education and meritocracy was contrasted by hereditary aristocracy during the Chosun period, where bloodlines and kinship were particularly pronounced. Due to Confucian influences, however, education was able to maintain a fairly equalizing presence over society because of its belief in each individual being capable of benefitting from formal education and achieving enlightenment. Education was also dominated by the exalted scholar-teacher relationship, where teachers