If you go to South Korea and take a walk around one of its major metropolises, Seoul or Daejeon, you’ll probably notice one detail: the abundance of signage. hag wonPrivate academies where children go to learn English and maths or get the highest grades in school. suneungThe exam that provides access to the best universities in the country. In 2020, the number of such academies was more than 73,000. It may seem like an anecdote, but the figure belies a crucial challenge for Korea, a country mired in an alarming demographic decline and where educating children has become an exclusive luxury.

There are already studies pointing to South Korea as the most expensive country to raise children. Interestingly (or not) it is also the country with the lowest birth rate.

A demographic paradox. When it comes to birth and parenthood, South Korea stands out in two areas that don’t quite fit together. With a fertility rate of 0.72 children per woman, the Asian Republic ranks last in birth rates and without hot towels faces what officials are already calling a “national emergency.” The very low birth rate is such a serious problem that it affects its economy, society and even national defense. Demographic ironies, South Korea is also one of the most expensive countries to raise children.

a small fortune. This was shown in a study by the YuWa Institute last year. According to information compiled by the South Korean newspaper Chosun IboRaising a child to age 18 requires a cost equivalent to 7.79 times GDP per capita; This means approximately 365 million KRW in cash. Or 251,562 euros at the exchange rate. China ranked second, with a cost of 6.9 times its GDP per capita, followed by Germany (3.6) and France (2.2).

To partially alleviate this situation and halt the population loss the country is experiencing, South Korea has invested $280,000 million over the past 18 years and implemented a series of direct aid, incentives and policies aimed at improving the quality of family life. Seoul officials are even considering giving families a 70,000-euro “super baby voucher.”

Is education a luxury? Education has a significant weight in this great plan. Again, according to the data published by the newspaper Chosun IboIn 2022, South Koreans spent almost 18 billion euros on private centers for their children. This figure equates to more than 361 euros per child. One month. The situation is such that a year ago Korea Times He claimed that South Korean families devote more resources to their children’s private and extracurricular tuition than to other basic expenses such as food and housing.

To be more precise, it cited data from Statistics Korea showing that households with more comfortable economies spent an average of 1.14 million won ($869) per month on private lessons for children aged 13 to 18. This amount represents a significant portion of monthly income and is practically equivalent to the sum of the amount spent on food (636,000 won) and accommodation (539,000 won). And this is not exclusive to rich families. At its most modest, spending on private lessons exceeded spending on housing and food.

from record to record. Despite the amount of resources they devote to academics and extracurricular activities, South Korean families do not seem willing to cut back on private education spending. This situation is also reflected in the data of the Ministry of National Education and Statistics. Their calculations show that total spending on special education in 2022 stands at approximately $19.7 billion; This is 10.8% more than the previous year, when the annual record was already broken.

Far from slowing down, private education spending rebounded significantly last year. Following an increase of 4.5%, the highest level in recent years, compared to the same period last year, this figure reached approximately 20 billion dollars in 2023. And this is despite the decline in the number of primary, secondary and high school students caused by low birth rates. Reason: The government’s decision to increase the entrance fee to medical schools.

Keyword: hag won. The phenomenon of special education in South Korea cannot be understood without a basic concept. “hagwon”That’s how “intensive schools” are known there, academies and special classes where students go to reinforce what they have learned in schools, learn extra subjects or prepare for the most important exams, especially universities. suneungor CSAT, the challenging exam that grants access to the nation’s universities.

To: hag won Even preschool children come and learn English, math, taekwondo, swimming or playing the piano from their teachers. Indian Magazine Front line Three years ago he dedicated a comprehensive report to them, explaining that the origins of the concept date back to the end of the 19th century and that in 2020 more than 73,000 private tutoring centers were distributed across South Korea, half of them in the capital. . time It is stated that there will be more than 24,000 businesses in Seoul alone, that is, the number of markets will triple.

Two facts to consider. A good percent can say more than a thousand words. When it comes to private education and South Korea, there are two countries that speak effectively. In 2017, the Korea Institute of Early Childhood Care and Education published a report revealing that 35.5 percent of two-year-olds and 83.6 percent of five-year-olds attended private academies. And they included both under this concept hagwons traditional, such as educational courses delivered in cultural centres, nurseries, kindergartens or homes, face-to-face or online.

The research is several years old, but it is generally estimated that about 80% of South Korean students participated. hagwons or “cramped schools.” The survey by the Institute of Early Childhood Education also showed that children devoted a significant amount of hours to their education: two-year-olds attended 2.6 sessions per week, for an average of 47.6 minutes per lesson; Five-year-old children underwent 5.2 sessions, each lasting approximately 50 minutes.

But… So why? To understand what makes South Korean parents enroll their children in academies for which they spend hundreds of dollars every month, it is worth remembering the thought he shared in 2023. Korea Times Kim, a Seoul woman who is the mother of a 13-year-old teenager: “Private tuition costs are the biggest burden on our family budget. I do my best to reduce the number of lessons my son attends, but it’s hard to decide which ones to take.” leave it. It’s important that each of them gets good grades, and I don’t want them to fall behind.

In addition to school, the young man also attended English, mathematics, writing and taekwondo classes. It may seem like a lot, but Kim assured other neighbors were doing that “and more” and acknowledged fears that their children would be left behind and their future in jeopardy in hyper-competitive Korea.

looking to the future. “Good private education in addition to regular schooling aims to ensure that the child gets good grades and gets a place in one of the top universities,” lawyer Han Ye-jung, who has a young daughter, tells DW. “And this should mean a good job, so getting into the best university is very important as it guarantees success in life.”

There are already those in Korea who warn of excessive competition in classrooms and believe that education spending is out of control; However, there are also voices that assume that it is difficult for students to prepare for exams on their own due to the system. “Everybody go hagwons “I feel like I’m missing something if I don’t do this,” admits student Yerim Kim.

compromise problem. There would be another key: compromise. Academies and extracurricular activities give working parents in South Korea the option to keep their children busy. Front line For example, he explains, in Daechi-dong it is not uncommon to see parents in their cars waiting for their children to get out of class, sometimes waiting until 10 o’clock at night when school is out.

Perhaps aware of this need, the Government announced in February that after-school programs for children in primary schools would be expanded. Goal: operate until eight o’clock in the afternoon. First-graders in schools usually finish their studies at the age of one or two.

Including discussion. The role and high cost of private education also raise some debates. Firstly, because the demographic winter season is so cold that it could present an extra hurdle when it comes to encouraging births in a country where there is already talk of a “national emergency”. Secondly, due to the extreme burden that children represent for himself and the household economy, this can even lead to the so-called “edupovers”.

The third is about the education system itself and what it means for equality of opportunity. “It is very difficult to prepare for the exams alone” hag won “They offer a wealth of educational materials that you can’t get any other way,” says Kim, a student attending one of these centers. The government has tried to regulate the work of private academies in the past, but with varying success. Some accuse him of “taking advantage of parents’ concerns” so that their children can get a good education and quality jobs in harsh Korea.

Pictures | Open Government Partnership (Flickr) 1 and 2

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