By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Tuition fees at all hagwon or private cram schools will be disclosed to the public on the Websites of each regional education office by next June. Based on the information, parents can report to education authorities, if they are overcharged by hagwon operators.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Thursday its plan to revise ``hagwon law'' in order to obligate the cram schools to make public their tuition charges on the Internet as a measure to cut down private education costs.
``We will visit some 500 hagwon across the country and check tuitions as well collect opinions from parents. Based on the data, we will conduct special supervisions on illegal hagwon that impose high tuition fees until next February,'' Seo Myung-bum, a general director of the ministry told reporters during a press meeting.
Costs of buying textbooks and taking exams will be calculated into fees as many cram schools shoulder parents with additional costs.
From November, the Korea Customer Agency will set up ``a reporting center'' for hagwon tuitions on its Website to collect complaints from parents. In addition, the private cram institutes will be required to accept credit cards and issue cash receipts.
Authorities can suspend hagwon without warning if the cram schools overcharge fees and run false and exaggerated advertisements.
The authorities have developed a system to calculate ``appropriate fees'' based on data including teacher's salaries, revenue and expenditure. The new system will officially be applied from December and overcharging hagwon will be subject to penalties.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
