By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

``Use all available means to cut private education costs for parents with schoolchildren and normalize public education.''

Days after President Lee Myung-bak gave this instruction to Cabinet ministers, the Korea Education Research Institute proposed a 7-point action plan in a seminar organized by the governing Grand National Party (GNP) Friday to slash private education costs.

Under the plan, hagwon will be banned from offering lessons to students after 10 p.m., universities will not consider academic achievement scores during the first year of high school in recruiting students and schools will be required to activate after-school programs for students.

The proposal also calls for better evaluation of teachers, an increase in the number of art and sports schools and improvement in the quality of lessons provided by the Education Broadcasting System, a nationwide television network, to draw more viewers.

``These are new guidelines for education officials and lawmakers in pushing for educational reform,'' said Jin Soo-hui, head of the Yeouido Institute, a GNP think tank. ``The governing party will hold rounds of discussions in the coming weeks to find ways to meet demands from teachers and parents, as well as students.''

According to sources from the GNP, the architects of the reform plan included Rep. Chung Doo-un and Kwak Seung-jun, chairman of the Presidential Council for Future and Vision, President Lee's closest aides.

Rep. Chung recently criticized the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for ``foot-dragging'' on reform, saying, ``President Lee believes a rising burden on parents for public tutoring is the biggest national issue.''

The GNP efforts to reform the education sector are expected to pick up steam, as Cheong Wa Dae is seeking to drastically ease private education costs amid low popularity for President Lee and his key policies such as the four-river refurbishment project.

Critics say the move is part of efforts to win more support from ordinary people and appeal to a broader base of voters, with the local elections slated for June next year.

``In the past, students from poor families were able to enter prestigious colleges if they were smart. But the situation is very different now,'' President Lee said during a Cabinet meeting last week. ``We should resolve the issue of rising private education costs to provide equal opportunities to all students.''

Analysts say that to help households cut private education expenditure, the government should improve the public education sector and provide more higher education opportunities to students from needy households.

According to the National Statistical Office, household expenditure for children's private education rose to 18.7 trillion won ($14 billion) last year, up 1.3 trillion won or 7 percent from 2007, with each family spending an average of 1.1 million won.

The high-income bracket spent much more on sending kids to various after-school learning institutes than those on low income. The top 20 percent of high-income households spent an average of 321,000 won on private education per month in 2008, 6.9 times higher than the 46,000 won spent by the bottom 20 percent. The gap has widened from 5.9 times a year earlier.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr