The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has taken action to ease parents' private education cost burden. The office announced Monday that it conducted a special inspection of 730 private academies and tutoring institutes in its jurisdiction and identified 228 violations at 167 locations.
Roughly one in four inspected facilities failed to comply with tuition-related regulations. The most common violation was failure to register tuition fee changes (52 cases), followed by violations in the display and posting of tuition fees (42 cases), overcharging of tuition fees (10 cases), and collection of costs beyond tuition fees (19 cases).
The cited academies and tutoring institutes received administrative measures including suspension of instruction (3 cases), penalty points and correction orders (172 cases), administrative guidance (19 cases), and fines (31 cases). Fines totaling 33 million won were imposed.
The office also conducted a special inspection of tuition fees from February to April last year, identifying 228 violations at 183 of 712 facilities. At that time, fines were imposed for 35 illegal acts.
The latest inspection was carried out in line with the government's special management policy on consumer prices, aiming to ease parents' private education cost burden and restore order in the tuition fee operations of academies and tutoring institutes. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education deployed 36 inspection personnel from 11 district education support offices, continuing the special inspection for about two months starting in February.
"We will establish a culture of voluntary compliance with laws and regulations at academies and tutoring institutes, and enhance the effects of stabilizing tuition fees and reducing private education costs," said Kim Cheon-hong, Acting Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.
Seoul Students Top Nation in Private Education Spending
Seoul students spend the most on private education in the country. According to the Ministry of Education, the average monthly private education cost per elementary, middle, and high school student in Seoul last year was 663,000 won, the highest among 17 metropolitan and provincial governments. That figure is 164,000 won higher than in Gyeonggi Province (499,000 won), the second-highest region. The national average was 458,000 won, down 4.4% from 479,000 won a year earlier. Considering only students who participated in private education, the average monthly cost per student reached 604,000 won.
Recently, a student who attended elementary, middle, and high school in Daechi-dong before entering Seoul National University's School of Dentistry drew attention by disclosing his private education experience and costs. In a video released on the YouTube channel "Studio Sha," the student, identified as A, said, "Students in Daechi-dong have packed academy schedules from elementary through high school," adding that in his third year of high school, he "spent about 4 million to 5 million won on academy fees."
A said he maintained a tight academy schedule starting in elementary and middle school. During those years, he "attended academies for Korean, English, math, and science (physics, chemistry) about four days a week," adding that he "made use of the time between academy sessions by squeezing in classes in swimming, basketball, boxing, and other arts and physical activities."
In his third year of high school, when he attended the most academies, he went to a total of nine academies—three for math, two for Korean, one for English, two for biology, and one for earth science—and additionally took a weekend mock exam class. A recalled that he took nearly 40 hours of academy classes per week.
