Spending on children's private education is ever increasing, forcing parents to dig deeper into their pockets. This has put them, particularly those in the low-income brackets, under greater financial pressure.
Official government data showed Koreans spent a combined 19.5 trillion won ($17.2 billion) on private tutoring last year, up 4.4 percent from 2017.
The data testifies to the weakening of public education, as nearly 73 percent of 5.58 million students received private lessons and other extracurricular programs at hagwon, or cram schools, last year. Each student ― elementary, middle and high school ― cost parents an average 291,000 won per month for private tutoring, up 7 percent from 2017. This marked an upward march for the sixth straight year.
The frequently changing college entrance exam formula is mainly responsible for the increase. Precarious college admissions policies also contributed to rising costs, while parents' zeal to send their children to prestigious universities further encourages the private education boom.
Noteworthy in the data compiled by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea is the steep rise in the number of relatively poor households whose monthly income is less than 2 million won. About 47.3 percent of them, a 3.3 percentage point increase from the previous year, spent 99,000 won a month on their children's private lessons.
This means the next generation's opportunity to receive private education of a high standard largely depends on their parents' income. The data showed rich families spent more than five times that of poor ones. It is unthinkable that the educational authorities do not have an answer to this situation.
The government must strengthen school education to solve this chronic problem. The key is in reforming the college entrance exam. A new system would help reduce the burden of private education.
The government is set to launch the National Education Commission to be composed of experts from all spectrums of life. The new apparatus aims at hammering out a forward-looking comprehensive plan. Needless to say, this should focus on how to normalize public education.