Fulbright U.S. Education Center

The Korea Times and other local papers highlighted today’s government announcment that it intends to develop a new test that will hopefully replace much of the TOEFL exam volume in South Korea.  As announced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, one purpose of the new test is to reduce the amount of money people spend on private cram schools and language institutes.  The new test, tentatively named the State English Aptitude Test, will be modeled on Japan’s EIKEN test, which has earned international recognition.  ”We believe, as long as we can develop a quality test, many overseas schools will accept it,” said Education Minister Ahn Byoung Man.   He further stated that he expects the new test to replace TOEIC and TOEFL in university admissions and job applications.  The government will run pilot tests between 2010 and 2011 before formally introducing the new test in 2012.

Reports in both the Korea Times and the Joongang Ilbo recently highlighted the continued growth of South Korea’s private institutes, otherwise known as cram schools.  According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the private education market was worth 20 trillion won last year. Some, however, estimate the market to be as big as 30 trillion won when including institutes for kids and adults. Many private institutes have turned into huge enterprises with nationwide franchises and are preparing to list on the stock market. Some of them are even planning to advance into other Asian markets. 

A number of global private equity funds have invested in the private education market over the last few years. Their investment is expected to hone its competitiveness but concerns are growing that public education at schools might be left behind. The investments show that private education is not about small private cram schools or “hagwon” under careless management anymore ― it has grown into a huge industry. 

The Carlyle Group, for example, invested $20 million in Topia Academy, a private institute specializing in English education; TStone invested 60 billion won in Time Holdings, a cram school; Elim Edu, an essay school, got a $13 million investment from Goldman Sachs; and AIG Investment put $60 million into Avalon, an English language institute.

President Lee Myung-bak administration’s focus on English education is also expected to bolster the private education market.

There was an interesting article in today’s Joongang Ilbo, English edition, about the effects of the announcement by the city of Seoul’s education authority that it would establish two new, all-English, international middle schools.   The article shows quite graphically the relationship between strategies in public education and the activities of private English and study abroad institutes.

As reported in the Joongang Ilbo, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has announced a plan to establish two international middle schools in the capital city, each of which will accept 160 freshmen beginning next March.  Each school will accept 160 first-year students who will be divided into five classes. The annual tuition will be set at 4.8 million won ($4,574) or less, a measure partly aimed at quelling criticism that the new schools will be affordable only for children from rich families. But first-year students also have to pay an additional 700,000 won as an entrance fee. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union held a press conference in front of the education office yesterday to protest the decision.
“The change would put enormous burden on elementary school students and increase the financial burden on parents, eventually devastating the elementary education system,” said the union in a statement.

An interesting article in the New York Times, “College and Company Link up to Lure Foreigners,” describes Northeastern University’s new partnership with Kaplan to recruit international students.  Kaplan finds students for and helps run an academic program for international students to spend a year on campus, improving their English and acclimating to American higher education, before starting one of Northeastern’s degree programs.  Although Northeastern is the first American university with such a partnership, the model, now common in Britain, is gaining interest in the United States. Some critics worry that if such partnerships catch on widely, the quest for lucrative international students could undermine academic standards, if the profit motive leads programs to admit unqualified students or use low-paid, poorly trained instructors.

Interest in learning English is so pervasive in South Korea these days that official government statistics can hardly capture the scope of the activity.    An article entitled “The English Frenzy in Korea” recently appeared on the KBS website.   With regard to the size of the English education market in South Korea, the article suggests that ”The scope of the English-language education market in Korea reaches 4-5 trillion won annually, including private institutes, textbooks and overseas language programs. The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development estimates the official number of English-language private institutes nationwide to surpass 3,000. But people in the private education industry say the actual number of private English institutes nationwide is at least 10,000, with their profits exceeding 2 trillion won a year.”

The article also noted that “The amount of private tutoring costs paid by students for overseas language courses or for studying TOEFL and TOEIC in order to find a job is enormous as well. After polling 2,348 college seniors, the School of Education of Ewha Women’s University found that each of the respondents spent 12.61 million won over four years on average on private education in order to find a job. Of that, 11.94 million won was spent on studying English.”

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.”

The association of foreign language institutes (institute is hagwon in Korean) says that the government should block the inflow of unqualified native English teachers, making clear its opposition to a policy to increase the number of “questionable instructors.’’  According to an article in the Korea Times, “The Korea Association of Foreign Language Academies (KAFLA) complained that the government was “recklessly’’ opening the door to foreigners without building any safeguard against unqualified teachers. The association has about 7,000 members.  The association said the Korea Immigration Service (KIS) does not retain data on foreign nationals who have had work experience here. “No hagwon owners want to work with unqualified foreigners. Most hagwon employers terminate contracts of unacceptable foreigners, those guilty of sexual harassment or taking drugs,” general director Choi Chang-jin said.”  The article also noted that hagwon owners said they will not hire teachers from the proposed association for native English-speaking instructors, a union-like body.  Currently, some 17,500 foreigners are registered with the KIS on English-teaching visas, but if ethnic Koreans are added, the number doubles. KIS estimates about 50,000 foreigners teach English here, including those who are doing so illegally.

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.

Private institutes (학원 in Korean) are a dominant force in South Korea’s education market.  There are institutes for the study of English and other foreign languages, other academic subjects, and for advice and help on study abroad.  At the elementary and secondary levels, the vast majority of Korean students attend not only public school, but also a private institute.  Fulbright frequently receives questions from representatives of U.S. schools about the role of institutes in South Korea, how to contact them, and so forth.   In an effort to better respond to such questions and to understand the role of private sector educational institutes here, the Fulbright Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2003 with the Korea Overseas Study Association (KOSA).  The MOU was expanded in 2005 to call for joint efforts in three major areas.

1. WEB CONTENT  The development of high quality web content, in both Korean and English, aimed at schools, professional associations and educational organizations in both Korea and the United States.
2. TRAINING  The design, conduct and improvement of training seminars for KOSA member agencies.  In complementary fashion, the design and delivery of training sessions on Korea’s education market for representatives of U.S. schools and educational organizations.
3. PROMOTION Joint efforts to promote U.S. Study Fairs in Korea, visits and presentations by specific U.S. schools, and other educational events. 

This blog will provide information about our cooperative efforts with KOSA along with periodic updates on the role of private institutes in education here and in international educational exchange.  In addition, we will accept your questions and attempt to answer them to the best of our ability.