"Fever reducer" - extra lessons

SGGP June 28, 2023 07:16

The South Korean government has just announced a plan to curb the increasing spending by citizens on private tutoring classes – which is believed to be one of the reasons for the country's declining birth rate.

This move comes a month after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol argued that the country's university entrance exams contained many questions outside the curriculum taught in public schools.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education and the Statistics Agency of South Korea show that in 2022, South Koreans spent a record-high 26 trillion won (approximately $20 billion) on extracurricular tutoring for their children, despite a 0.9% decrease in student enrollment. Notably, eight out of ten students attended private tutoring centers and cram schools (also known as Hagwon) across the country. This reliance on the private education system makes the cost of raising children in South Korea among the highest in the world , leading to a reluctance to have children and causing South Korea's birth rate to fall among the lowest globally.

Speaking at a press conference announcing the plan, South Korean Education Minister Lee Ju-ho pledged to eliminate "trick questions" in exams, which have led to intense competition among parents and students in tutoring classes. The Ministry of Education is also seeking solutions to ensure fairness in university entrance exams.

To achieve this goal, South Korea will establish an independent committee to filter out "difficult questions" and assess the fairness of the test. Teachers involved in creating the exam will be prohibited from selling question sets, providing lectures, or offering advice related to the university entrance exam for a specified period.

Furthermore, the South Korean Ministry of Education also controls the private education system, strengthening oversight of exaggerated and false advertising. The official university entrance exams often contain challenging questions, leading Korean parents and students to seek answers from privately run tutoring centers in the hope of achieving their desired university goals.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thuoc-giam-sot-hoc-them-post695287.html