Fulbright U.S. Education Center

According to a report in today’s Korea Times, the number of foreign students studying at colleges and universities in South Korea now totals 50,591.  This figure is 10,000 more than in April of 2008, a twenty percent year-on-year increase.   40,000 of these students came from China, representing 78 percent of the total.  Mongolia ranked next with 1,632 students, followed by Viet Nam and Japan with 2.9 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

The number of foreign professors has also increased in recent years.  There are currently 4,127 international educators teaching at Korean colleges, up from 3,433 last year, 2,919 in 2007 and 2,540 in 2006.

As reported in the Korea Times, it’s easy to spot the neatly dressed kindergarteners hopping out of BMWs and Maseratis in front of the southern Seoul campus of British International Pre School (BIPS), a prestigious English-speaking kindergarten rumored to be most sought-after by the rich moms in town.

The school’s annual tuition hovers above 18 million won ($14,400) ― more than four times the tuition for public universities ― but money doesn’t seem to be the problem. It’s the competition rate.  One mother who failed to get her six-year-old son into the program says she felt defeated when she had to enroll her child in a regular neighborhood kindergarten, which typically charges 200,000 won to 400,000 won per month.

BIPS, Bambini and some 20 other English-speaking “premium” kindergartens claim to provide only the best and charge anywhere from 1.5 million to 2 million won per month.

As reported in The Korea Times, a total of 457 elementary and secondary schools across the nation have been selected as schools that will attempt to free their students from private tutoring. To do this through upgrading curricula and other programs, the schools will receive subsidies from the government.  According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, about 1,000 schools had applied for the subsidy program.

The selected schools will receive an average of 130 million won ($102,000) per year ― the government plans to spend about 60 billion won on the project this year.

The “private tutoring-free schools” are expected to run tailor-made programs or after-school classes with the special budget as well as hire more teachers.

The schools are obliged to regularly survey private cram school costs of their students and report it to the ministry. Those who fail to reduce private education costs will no longer be entitled to the subsidies.

As reported by the Joongang Daily today, the government of President Lee Myung Bak, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the ruling Grand National Party, are set to release a “Road Map to Ease Private Education Costs” by the end of July.   This is the latest salvo in a perennial political battle to curb the influence of private institutes or “hagwons” in Korean education.  Reportedly the proposal will ban cram schools for elementary school children after 9:00 P.M. and for middle and high school students after 10:00 P.M.

At a meeting with ministers on June 23rd, President Lee reportedly said that “Getting rid of private education is crucial for reducing the financial burden on lower income households, but it seems hagwons have a strong lobbying capacity.”  Although Korea is expected to post negative economic growth this year, spending on private education, including hagwons and tutoring, rose to 20.9 trillion won ($16.4 billion) from 20.4 trillion won a year earlier.

CNN and other media covered the inauguration last week of a new English Education City on the island province of Jeju.  The central idea of the project is to create a city where elementary, middle and high schools—and eventually universities–teach all of their courses in English.  Top-notch schools from outside Korea are being invited to participate in the project.  One of the first is Britain’s North London Collegiate School.

The English Education City aims to reduce the need for Korean families to send their children oveseas for an English-language education.  Jeju officials say annual tuition will be somewhere between U.S. $3,100 and U.S. $4,700 or about half the amount South Korean parents would be paying to send their children overseas.

The English language market in Korea has already resulted in 21 “English Villages” around the country. Next month, an English village capable of schooling some 5,000 children will open in the southern city of Keoje.  Although more such projects are popping up, the Jeju Global Education City is by far the most ambitious.

As reported in the Korea Times today, Korea ranked second from the bottom worldwide in the General Training Module (GTM) for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), according to the British Council.  The number of Koreans taking IELTS increased to 27,000 last year, up from 23,000 in 2007 and 14,000 in 2006.   Last year Korean test takers gained an average score of 5.33 out of 9 on the GTM, up 0.12 from the previous year.   This placed it ahead of only the United Arab Emirates, which had an average score of 4.55.   Testing experts claim that Korea’s low scores are partly due to the large number of elementary and middle school students who take the test.

IELTS tests are held in over 500 centers around the world and some 12 million people take the test every year.

I’m here at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Los Angeles.   There is a great deal of interest in educational exchange between the United States and Korea.  Two topics that are receiving considerable attention in panels and presentations this year are (1) the internet and cyber-promotion and delivery of education and (2) the growing number of state and regional consortia being formed to help promote education in the U.S.   Just yesterday I learned that a “Study Rhode Island” consortia has been formed consisting of eight RI universities and colleges.   This morning (Thursday) I’m going to attend a session that discusses the role of government in consortia, such as the new Study New York group that is being formed.   More on this in later posts.

A note to the many people I’ve met at NAFSA:  please return to this blog for information on South Korea’s education sector and feel free to submit your comments, advice and questions.

The heavy reliance of South Korean students on private educational institutes to supplement what they learn in public schools is a major news item these days.  As reported in the Joongang Daily, “The Education Ministry and lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party yesterday agreed to withdraw the proposal by a high-ranking Blue House official to prohibit private education institutes, or hagwon, from having classes after 10 p.m., ending a month-long controversy. ”

However, the same meeting to resolve the matter also produced a range of reform measures on the admissions system for foreign language and science high schools, as part of the government’s agenda to battle private-education fever.   This remains a major issue in South Korea’s education sector.

As reported by the Chosun Ilbo, 60 percent of freshmen admitted to Seoul National, Yonsei and Korea Universities in 2009 came from the capital city of Seoul and the immediately surrounding metropolitan area.  The largest proportion came from the upscale Gangnam area of Seoul, followed by Seocho, another upscale district.

An article in The Korea Herald today provides some useful detail on the increase in spending on private education in South Korea.  Government data showed yesterday that the gap in private education spending between the wealthy and the poor widened last year, raising fears that the economic slump may hit children of low-income families more severely.

According to data by the Bank of Korea and the National Statistical Office, the top 20 percent households in terms of income spent 6.9 times more on private education than the bottom 20 percent in 2008, up from 5.9 times a year earlier. The corresponding figure has continuously risen from 5.3 in 2003, except for the year 2006 with 6.6.

By region, monthly expenditure per student in Seoul was 2.4 times larger than that in smaller towns, or Myeons and Eups, in 2008, up 2.3 times in 2007, the NSO said.

Although the government has been putting ever more emphasis on English education in public schools, spending for private English education rose by the most in terms of subject.

The private education spending for English rose by 11.8 percent, while that of other subjects, like Korean essay writing, fell by 10 percent, the NSO survey showed.

Educational attainment was also a significant factor in deciding the amount of private education spending. Mothers with degrees from graduate schools spent 398,000 won a month on private education in 2008, whereas those with high school degrees spent half of that, or 201,000 won, the survey showed.