Trends in Private Expenditure on Education
The Bank of Korea recently conducted a study showing that expenditure on private tutoring did not increase a student’s chances of securing university admission. The chart that accompanied the article (click on the thumbnail above to see a full-size version) clearly shows two long term trends. First, the blue line measured against the right-hand axis of the graph, shows that the proportion of household income spent on education increased from 7.7 percent in 1985 to 11 percent in 2006. Second, the ratio of private tutoring to total education costs, depicted by the orange line, soared to 81.1 percent in 2006 from 18.3 percent in 1985.