Over the past years, students at SIS have regularly complained about the school’s drab facilities (or lack thereof). Rusty faucets in old bathrooms or water fountains that spurted into your face with a waterfall under unbearable water pressure have been subject to complaints for myriad year. In fact, many students buy water from the school store instead of drinking from the fountain in fear of being sprayed by contaminated water. Despite these complaints, the school has almost never addressed the needs of students, despite the hefty sums of money paid to go toward “state-of-the-art facilities” each year.
However, in light of the increasing number of newer international schools in South Korea, an influx of new rumors regarding possible upgrades in the school’s facilities has regularly poured in on campus. For example, administrators have recently announced that the water fountains will be replaced with dispensers over the spring break, which will alleviate the issue of water pressure and potential contamination. In addition, many reports of bathroom renovations and remodeling of the library have reached pupils, generating much excitement among the student body. Out of curiosity in how individual students felt about the changes on campus, I interviewed my fellow classmate on the recent revelations regarding campus quality.
Q: Are there any other facilities you think that SIS should be making changes toward? Why or why not?
C: I believe that SIS should renovate some of our classrooms as the heating or air conditioning does not always work. They should be making these changes as the temperature in Korea is very irregular, and often during extremely hot or cold days, the heaters or air conditioners are not activated accordingly.
Q: Do you think the momentum of this year’s renovations will go on to improve the teachers and facilities in future years, or do you think that the changes will only apply to the immediate future?
C: I believe that these changes will persist in future years as the school administration is making an effort to resolve the school’s infrastructural flaws with the support of SIS parents. I think that as the school officials recognize the positive response from the student body and other members of the school community, they’ll realize that they can put the school budget to use in ways that can actually create change.
Seeing that so many students have shown a positive response to the changes in SIS’ educational environment, the student-parent community at the school can only hope that the school will stay true to its conscience and make amends to the misuse of funds through more renovated facilities.
Rachel Lee
Grade 10
Seoul International School
By Rachel Lee