After-school programs ineffective in reducing hagwon costs

By Kim Tae-jong

About seven in 10 parents think after-school programs are ineffective to slash private education costs for their children, a survey showed Monday.

The result is contrary to the government’s announcement that after-school courses allow households to cut private cram schools or “hagwon” expenses.

The survey was conducted on about 3,500 primary and secondary students and parents nationwide by the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI), a unit of the education ministry.

In the survey, only 26 percent of the respondents said after-school programs were beneficial in spending less on private education.

However, 64 percent replied they did not see any change in private education costs despite the after-school program. Nearly 10 percent even said their spending on private education had increased.

The government-initiated after-school programs were introduced in 2006 as part of moves to reduce private education costs and provide students with a wider range of courses including art, physics and other supplementary lessons.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said the programs were found to be successful, citing survey results by Statistics Korea early this year.

In that study, more than half of respondents said after-school courses reduced private education costs, and households which sent their child to after-school courses could save up to 530.000 won a year.

But according to the KEDI survey, 65 percent of students still attend hagwon classes after the after-school program ends.

“The outcome was a bit different from what we expected,” said Kim Hong-won, an official from KEDI. “The purpose of after-school classes is not only to cut private education costs, it’s also aims to provide students with opportunities for a more diverse and interesting education.”

The participation rate of afterschool programs has steadily risen, reaching 63.6 percent in 2010 compared with 42.7 percent in 2006.