South Korea targets private ‘cram schools,’ citing heavy burden on families

The government has tried repeatedly, with little success, to regulate private tutoring, including an outright ban in the 1980s which was gradually overturned. Cram-school spending dipped slightly in 2010; the Education Ministry is crediting its new policies.

The cornerstone of the reforms is an ambitious, long-term shift away from a test-dominated college admission system. The Education Ministry has begun funding admissions officers at top universities and training them in a U.S.-style process that also considers talents, creativity and independent learning.

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There are also some high-profile local efforts underway, including a 10 p.m. cram-school curfew in Seoul. To help enforce the regulations, the Education Ministry set up a watchdog center, offering cash rewards to tipsters.

Go In-Gyung, chairman of Pagoda, which prepares college students and professionals for English tests, says the government “is making everyone settle for lower quality.”

‘A waste of money’

Hoping to boost confidence in public education, the government introduced a controversial teacher evaluation system as well as standardized tests meant to stir competition among schools. It is also offering more after-school tutoring at public schools and on TV.

Last year the Education Ministry decided that 70 percent of questions on the national college entrance exam would be based on lessons carried on the government-funded Educational Broadcasting System, providing a strong incentive for students to tune in.

One of EBS’s on-air personalities is Brian Rhee, whose sister, Michelle Rhee, the former D.C. schools chancellor, became the face of U.S. education reform.

The 39-year-old Korean American moved to his parents’ home town more than a decade ago to learn Korean and pursue an acting career. Along the way, he found steady work as an English teacher.

In 2008, he opened his own cram school and encouraged parents to think beyond the next test, to skills their children will need for a globalized world. And while many academies assign three-page vocabulary lists, he gave students a half-dozen words to practice. “I wanted to take some of the pressure off these kids,” he said. But parents doubted his approach and he closed the doors last spring.

Yang Geong Cheol, a factory manager and a father of two in Gumi, an industrial city south of Seoul, paid for his older daughter’s late-night cram-school classes for six years, but she didn’t get into elite colleges. “It was a waste of money,” he said.

His younger daughter studies mostly on her own and would like to see the new college admissions system make it easier to compete with students who hire top tutors.

“My hope is that one day public education will be enough,” he said.

Special correspondents Seo Yoon Jung and Kim Min Sang contributed to this report.