By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Private cram schools or ``hagwon’’ caught running false ads even just once will have their licenses cancelled, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Sunday.
Under the current regulations, hagwon making false ads are subject to warnings. However, the authorities revised related decrees to strengthen administrative sanctions against private cram schools that falsify or exaggerate ads to attract more students.
The new rules allow the authorities to cancel hagwon licenses without having to issue warnings if they have made misleading ads through leaflets or any other media.
In addition, hagwon that overcharge students or operate beyond 10 p.m. will face tougher punishments.
The education office has introduced a system to calculate ``appropriate hagwon fees’’ using data on teacher’s salaries, revenue and other expenditures. The education office will officially apply the system from December and hagwon will not be allowed to charge parents beyond the ``appropriate’’ fees disclosed on the Internet.
Also, hagwon that disclose false tuition fees or do not make public the charges will have their licenses cancelled if they violate the tuition fee standards three times.
Those institutes that do not issue cash receipts will also face punitive action.
The maximum fine for hagwon will also be raised to two million won from the current one million won.