.jpg) Students crowd a district lined with private English institutes in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, in this file photo. Enrolling into famous hagwon is getting tougher these days, with some students hiring tutors to pass the admission test. / Korea Times file |
By Han Sang-hee
Getting into a university in Korea is a tough process, but when it comes to competition, it goes a long way back to start right from the younger years now.
Private cram schools, or hagwon, are considered the gateway to good scores at schools and eventually to enter the best university, and both parents and students put their utmost effort, time and money to enroll in such institutes. One of the most popular ones is an English hagwon.
“If you think about it, it really doesn’t make any sense. But what can you do? Everyone else is going through such hell, but we all believe it will be worth it,” said Park Yoon-suk, 42, who was waiting for her 13-year-old son to finish his class, Tuesday night in Daechi-dong.
Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, a busy street that is now called “the No.1 avenue for private education,” is always crowded with parents, students and cram school buses, but during winter break, it’s a bit overwhelming.
Cars waiting to pick up students are lined up in a row along the street, while hagwon bus drivers make sure everyone is safely on board. Sometimes during the busy night shifts, additional staff from the hagwon must come out to manage all the heavy traffic surrounding the block.
“It’s crazy during this time of the day,” said 24-year-old Park Min-jong, a staff member from the hagwon on Tuesday night.
“If we don’t have anyone to keep order, this place becomes chaotic with parents, students, taxi drivers, bus drivers and passersby all colliding into one another,” he added.
Getting into a hagwon is not about walking inside, filling out a form, paying tuition and being placed in a class anymore. In order to get into the best English hagwon, students must take an admissions test. This test is far from simple, as they require a high level of listening, writing and reading and, in some cases must pass an interview.
To get into one particular hagwon in Daechi-dong you must first apply online on a certain date. If there is no room for any more applicants that month, the student either has to continuously check online to see if anyone drops out or wait for the next test that will be held the following month. If you do apply and miss the test, you cannot apply again for the next four months. The test is comprised of a reading comprehension and essay test for one hour and thirty minutes and a 20 minute interview.
Because they tend to pick the best of the bunch, students who have failed to gain acceptance try again next time, just like a high school student would do for university.
“A lot of the students who take the tests have already taken them in the past. When they don’t get the score they hoped for, they go back home, study, and then come back for another try,” a clerk from one of the English hagwons said.
Some parents have gone so far as to hire a tutor so their child could get into a prestigious hagwon.
“Yes, we did that a while ago,” said a mother who only wanted to be identified by her surname Cha. Cha hired a tutor for her daughter an elementary school student before applying for her to take the hagwon’s exam two months ago. “She wanted to go to the hagwon so badly, so we took some time to prepare for the test with a tutor, and she finally got in.”
In the case of one English hagwon in Daechi-dong, the monthly payment for a class of four hours, three times a week starts at 750,000 won, textbooks included. The classes are usually comprised of seven to 10 students. English hagwon explain that the rate is not that high considering the high quality foreign tutors and materials, but for parents on an average income, this can be too much of a burden for an educational expense.
“We have very intense and specific courses for students in all grades, plus the teachers are all highly educated and respected in their areas. Nowadays, when parents and students can search for good materials and information about learning English, it’s so much more about the quality and we offer the best of the best in this neighborhood,” said a clerk from one of the top three English hagwon.
Waiting in the crowd on Tuesday night was a father in his early 40s who was searching for his 11-year-old boy among the shower of children coming out through a hagwon gate.
“I often come and pick him up after work, and sometimes he looks more tired than me,” said Yun Jin-yi, the father and office worker.
“But when I ask if he wants to quit, he says no because all his friends are doing it and he thinks he is actually learning. I guess that’s all I need to hear.”
