Parents spend big on summer English camps
Promotional notices for summer camps posted in front of a hagwon in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, in this undated photo taken in June. Yonhap
Lee, a 45-year-old working mom with a fifth-grade son, enrolled him in an English camp run by an international middle and high school starting on July 22.
The camp, which accommodates 384 fourth to sixth graders until Aug. 10, involves 20 days of dormitory life with 10 hours of daily English classes.
The camp fee is 4 million won ($3,100) per child. Lee said, "The schedule is tight, and the cost is high, but I thought it would be more motivating for my child than going from one crammer to another during vacation."
As the summer vacation period approaches at the end of this month, private education is booming. English camps operated by prestigious schools and international schools started recruiting in May and filled up quickly.
These camps typically run for about three weeks and cost between 3.5 and 4 million won, including dormitory fees.
Some private crammers charge over 6 million won for a month's participation in their English camps.
Private schools are also providing specialized classes exclusively during the vacation period. Overseas short-term study programs, which can cost millions of won, are also highly sought after.
An elite high school enrolled 350 fifth graders to second-year middle school students for an English camp running from July 21 to August 10. Despite the fee of 3.85 million won, registrations filled up just minutes after opening.
Another private high school's English camp, priced at 3.99 million won, also filled its 300 slots, with over 100 students on the waiting list.
Choi, a 44-year-old homemaker who enrolled her second-year middle school child in an English camp, said, "Having my child at home during vacation leads to nagging and conflicts. We decided it was worth the money for the new experience."
Students walk on a street lined with many hagwon in Daechi-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul. Newsis
Crammer fees double during vacation
The situation is the same at "hagwons," or private cram schools. A well-known language hagwon in Gangnam, Seoul, provides a three-week special class for elementary students daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., charging a fee of 2 million won.
Lee, a 41-year-old parent of first and second-grade children, said, "All the other kids go to hagwon, so I can't just let my kids play at home. The hagwon fees double during vacation."
Jeong, a 40-year-old working mom, enrolled her third-grade son in a four-week English camp at a public school in Irvine, California.
The cost of tuition, accommodation, and local expenses exceeds 10 million won. Jeong said, "I applied not just for English education but to give him an experience overseas. The camp offers various programs like marine sports and nature observation."
Students at Jungang Elementary School in Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla Province, leave school on July 19, 2023 as they begin their summer vacation. Yonhap
Soaring cost of English education
Private education agencies in countries like the US, UK, the Philippines, and Singapore are recruiting Korean students for four-week English camps, with costs ranging from 4 to 13 million won, varying by country and institution.
According to the Ministry of Education, the total private education expenditure for elementary, middle, and high school students last year was 27.1 trillion won, the highest ever.
Of this amount, 160 billion won was spent on language study abroad, marking a more than fourfold increase from the previous year's 38 billion won. Elementary students accounted for 59 percent of this expenditure.
The surge in supplementary education during vacations is also driven by dissatisfaction with Korea's public education system.
While elementary school "care classes" are available for children from low-income and dual-income families during vacations, their effectiveness is often called into question.
The parent of a fourth grader, surnamed Kim, who used the care class last vacation, said, "With mixed grades, systematic management was lacking, and the focus was more on care than education. This year, I plan to send my child to a hagwon."
Jeon, a 44-year-old working mom with a third-grade child, said, "There's a care gap during vacation, and if you don't apply during the semester, you can't use the care class just for the vacation period, so I registered for an English camp."
Widening gap in private education
Experts emphasize the need for measures to improve the quality of school activities during vacation periods and to regulate expenses related to private education.
Koo Bon-chang, director of an education research institute, said, "Excessive pre-learning and entrance competition have turned vacations into incentives for the private education market. Education authorities need to supervise excessive private education closely."
Park Geo-yong, a professor of English Education at Sangmyung University, said, "The gap in private education is widening according to parental income. We need to create high-quality school vacation programs in collaboration with universities and public institutions."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by staff of The Korea Times.