Nearly half of South Korean preschoolers now attend “cram” schools, pushing private education spending to record levels as intense competition raises the cost of having children in one of the world’s fastest-ageing countries.
According to a first-of-its-kind government survey released on Thursday, 47.6 per cent of South Koreans under the age of six are enrolled in cram schools known as hagwon, for-profit private education centres that come on top of regular schooling. The survey also showed that a quarter of children under two are in cram schools.
Families’ monthly tuition cost for preschoolers averaged Won332,000 ($228), with children attending private classes for an average of 5.6 hours a week. The average monthly tuition for kindergartens specialised in teaching English — popular in wealthy districts of Seoul — reached Won1.5mn.