South Korea to overhaul costly private education amid debate over 'killer questions'

Multicampus

26/06/2023 06:16

By Hyunsu Yim
       SEOUL, June 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's government is
due to unveil plans on Monday aimed at curbing the country's
burgeoning spending on private education, which has been blamed
for being a major factor behind the country's declining
fertility rate.
    The move comes as President Yoon Suk Yeol this month
criticised college entrance tests that incorporate questions not
in the curriculum at public schools, including some that have
been dubbed "killer questions" due to their complexity. 
    South Koreans spent a record 26 trillion won ($19.97
billion) on private education last year, despite a declining
student population, a joint report by the education ministry and
the government statistics bureau showed.
    Nearly eight in 10 students take part in private education
such as cram schools, known as "hagwons", according to the
report.
    This heavy reliance on private education has helped result
in South Korea having the world's highest cost of raising a
child, according to a report last year, and the world's lowest
birth rate.
    Shares of education-linked companies in South Korea fell
early Monday on caution ahead of the government's announcement.
    Woongjin Thinkbig  095720.KS  fell more than 2% to near
five-month lows, while Multicampus  067280.KQ  and MegaStudyEdu
 215200.KQ  lost about 1% each.
    The education ministry is expected on Monday to define and
give examples of "killer questions" and order them to be removed
from this year's tests, which are scheduled for November. 
    Public schools do not normally cover such questions, opening
the door for "hagwons" to promote their ability to teach
students the skills to solve them.
    Proponents of such questions say they help colleges select
candidates in a competitive environment, but Yoon cited the
issue of fairness, noting not every family could afford to pay
for expensive extracurricular classes.
    Shin So-young, an activist at civic group, The World Without
Worry About Private Education, said the changes planned by
authorities may not be enough to contain the high competition in
the education system.
    "The government needs to come up with a broader plan that
addresses the question of how to alleviate this excessive
competition to get into a few of the best universities," said
Shin.
 ($1 = 1,302.0300 won)

 (Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi, Hyunsu Yim
Editing by Jack Kim, Ed Davies)
 ((Hyunsu.Yim@thomsonreuters.com;))