Rewards totaling more than 100 million won ($80,000) have been paid over the past month to those who have reported on illegal private cram schools and unregistered private tutors, the Education Ministry said yesterday.
In a bid to curb rising private education costs, the ministry began on July 7 rewarding those who report on institutes operating without proper registration, violating hours of operation or charging excessive fees, as well as unregistered private tutors.
As of Monday, 2,050 cases had been reported, according to the ministry. A total of 131.741 million won was paid to 156 people who had reported 311 confirmed cases.
language="JavaScript"src="/khjs/banner/article_340.js">
Of the 311 cases, there were 219 institutes operating without proper registration, 49 unregistered tutors and 38 institutes caught charging excessive fees.
The ministry has been working in conjunction with the National Tax Service, the Fair Trade Commission and the National Police Agency to reward those who inform on illegal hagwon activities.
During the crackdown on illegal cram schools, the ministry found one institute in particular which was operating without proper registration in a basement, was charging excessive fees which were deposited into a false bank account and which employed unqualified instructors, according to officials.
The cram school charged a student 1.2 million won per month for two subjects.
The ministry plans to post fees charged by private institutes on the education offices` homepages to make it easier for parents to verify whether an institute is charging excessive fees. A bill which would make disclosure of fees mandatory has been submitted to the National Assembly.
Despite the economic downturn, the country`s total private education costs increased to 20.9 trillion won in 2008 from 20.04 trillion won in 2007.
(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)

By Song Sang-ho