Parents of elementary and middle school students aiming to go to elite private high schools in South Korea are spending on average of 1.7 times more money on private education, compared to children wishing to go to regular high schools, data shows.
The private education spending for young students gunning for autonomous high schools -- called "jasago" in Korean, referring to an elite school program that is given autonomy in its curriculum, admissions and faculty management in exchange for not receiving government subsidies -- was 700,600 won ($484) a month, while parents of children not targeting jasago spent 419,800 won a month on private education for them.
The report compiled by Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea analyzed Statistics Korea's 2024 research on private education spending for elementary and middle school students.
It was found that students wishing to attend other forms of elite schooling spent substantial amounts on private education as well. Students aiming for high schools specializing in foreign languages or international studies on average spent 660,700 won a month, while those targeting science schools and "gifted schools" stipulated in the Article 2-3 of the Gifted Education Promotion Act -- spent 644,700 won a month.
Children wishing to go to elite high schools were more likely to spend on private education. Some 93.05 percent of students wanting to go to jasago, 92.21 percent of science/gifted school hopefuls, and 91.99 percent of those targeting foreign language and international high schools benefitted from private education.
Among the students wishing to go to regular high schools, 83.71 percent of those students benefitted from private education.
It was reported last week that private education spending in South Korea marked an all-time high of 29.2 trillion won last year, despite an overall decline in student enrollment. The nationwide average spent among all students was 474,000 won per month, up from 434,000 won the previous year.
The same report surveyed the private education spending for preschool children, the first time such a study was conducted by the government. It was found that private education spending for children under the age of six was an average of 332,000 won per month, with 47.6 percent of all children in that age group benefitting from private education.
English-language institutes cost about 1.54 million won a month on average.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
