By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A court has ruled that regulating the tuition of a private cram school is against the Constitution, dealing a blow to the government's attempt to curb private tutoring.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled it is unjustifiable for the education office to suspend business of a private institute for ``overcharging'' students since it goes against the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of education.

The government has not yet decided whether to appeal the case. If the Supreme Court confirms the ruling, the Lee Myung-bak administration's efforts to ``normalize'' public education by curbing hagwon fees and business hours will lose steam.

The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing whether it is constitutional to curb business hours. A civic group filed a petition with the court, claiming it infringes upon freedom of education.

Judge Jang Sang-kyun of the court said, ``With public education failing to provide better services than private cram schools, lessons from private cram schools are as important as public education. As such, setting a uniform restriction on hagwon bills goes against freedom of education protected under the Constitution.''

The judge added there are several factors that should be taken into account to determine appropriate tuition. ``Tuition should be set in accordance with market conditions, not a uniform guideline from authorities.''

But he also said exorbitantly high tuition should be subject to punishment as it may hamper social stability in education.

In 2007, the Gangnam District Office of Education demanded that private institutes in its district raise its tuition by up to 4.9 percent, in keeping with the consumer price trend.

The cram school filed a suit against the education office after it was ordered to suspend business in January.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr