Private Institutes (hagwons) in Seoul may Extend Evening Hours
An article in today’s Korea Times reports that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to allow hagwons to run until 11 p.m. from July. Currently, private cram schools have to close before 10 p.m. The curfew reflects concerns about students’ health and growing private education costs. However, teacher’s groups are protesting the move.
Citing information from the Korean Statistics Information Service the article reports that “last year 77 percent of students received private education paying on average 220,000 won per month; 89 percent of elementary school students, 75 percent of middle school students and 55 percent of high school students.”