“I’d run and hide. I was so ashamed,” Han Oksoon told The Globe and Mail, recalling her childhood on a South Korean farm where she guided a plow instead of attending school.
Now 70 years old, Ms. Han sits at desks designed for teenagers inside Ilsung Women’s Middle and High School in Seoul. Founded in 1953, the institution currently educates 850 elderly women, where the average age of the student body sits at 69 and the oldest enrolled learner is 91 years old, La Vie Zine reported.
Until half a century ago, poverty across rural South Korea forced many families to prioritize the education of their sons while daughters stayed behind to support the household. “These women spent their lives raising their children. And helping their husband achieve their dreams,” Teacher Na Gyeonghwa explained, serving as the hidden foundation of the country's rapid economic development.
“And now it’s their turn to fulfill their dream,” Ms. Na said.
Classmates share similar histories of educational exclusion rooted in twentieth-century hardship. Sixty-year-old Lee Hyunhee began classes two years ago able to read but unable to write, having been raised by an aunt and uncle who required her to stay home and care for cousins. After putting her own children through high school and university with private tutors, Ms. Lee decided to pursue her own lost schooling.
“I realized there are so many things I don’t know,” Ms. Lee said in an interview with The Globe and Mail, adding that she feels herself improving every day.
Nearby, 66-year-old Jung Gwonsoon wore a floral dress and a bucket hat while reaching out and rubbing her back.
| Student Name | Age | Background Details |
|---|---|---|
| Han Oksoon | 70 | Grew up farming without a cow, guided plows instead of attending school. |
| Lee Hyunhee | 60 | Raised by relatives to care for cousins; could read but not write. |
| Jung Gwonsoon | 66 | Wears a bucket hat and floral dress; fulfills a lifelong dream of studying. |
Despite the vibrant atmosphere, the institution faces an administrative deadline that threatens its future. Following the death last year of school founder Lee Seon-jae, the facility must incorporate as a foundation to continue operating legally, a regulatory hurdle requiring 1-billion won, or approximately $1-million.
Unless the required funding is secured, the school is scheduled to shut down in February of 2028. Upon learning of the closure timeline, Ms. Han told The Globe and Mail that she was distraught.
Ilsung tailors its curriculum specifically to its demographic, offering low-impact physical education to prevent dementia alongside practical English vocabulary like reading grocery store signs and ordering coffee. During a recent English lesson, students balanced thermoses of barley tea and multiple bags on their desks while discussing test dates around the Chuseok midautumn festival.
Reflecting on her time before this school, Ms. Jung said that she previously felt like an ignored person.
