Nearly half of South Korean preschoolers now attend “cram” schools, pushing private education spending to record levels as intense competition raises the cost of having children in one of the world’s fastest-ageing countries.
According to a first-of-its-kind government survey released on Thursday, 47.6 per cent of South Koreans under the age of six are enrolled in cram schools known as hagwon, for-profit private education centres that come on top of regular schooling. The survey also showed that a quarter of children under two are in cram schools.
Families’ monthly tuition cost for preschoolers averaged Won332,000 ($228), with children attending private classes for an average of 5.6 hours a week. The average monthly tuition for kindergartens specialised in teaching English — popular in wealthy districts of Seoul — reached Won1.5mn.
Cram schools, which offer lessons in subjects such as English, maths, science and essay writing, have grown into a big industry in South Korea. Parents turn to them to give their children a leg up in the intense competition for places at top universities and well-paying jobs at the country’s handful of conglomerates.
The survey, conducted by the education ministry between July and September, showed the private education frenzy was trickling down to pre-school children.
This competition, in turn, has put a significant burden on family finances, driving up household debt and depressing domestic consumption. Total family spending on private education rose 7.7 per cent last year to a record Won29.2tn, even as the number of students fell 1.5 per cent, according to the statistics office.
The pressures of the academic system have contributed to South Korea’s demographic crisis. The country has the world’s lowest fertility rate — the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — at 0.75 last year, though that slightly improved from 0.72 in 2023.
There is also growing dissatisfaction with the education system’s focus on rote learning to pass tests, with many parents unhappy with the status quo but also afraid of the future cost if their children opt out.
“The high private education cost is discouraging couples from having children,” said Chun Eun-ok, a researcher at advocacy group A World Free From Private Education Worries.
“Parents think that children will do better if they start early”, but “too much academic burden” can be harmful to students’ mental health, she warned.
Yang Jung-ho, professor of education at Sungkyunkwan University, noted that education costs were contributing to elderly poverty, which afflicts almost 40 per cent of South Korea’s senior citizens.
“Young parents who grew up going to hagwon learned themselves that private tutoring was the best way to enter good universities, so naturally they do it for their children,” he said. But heavy spending on education made it difficult for them to save for later in life, he added.
Choi Min-young, a 38-year-old civil servant, spends about Won2.5mn a month on private education for her three children, nearly a third of her household income. Her six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son take English and abacus lessons in addition to painting and martial arts.
“I don’t want to see them fall behind because everyone else is doing it,” she said. “The sooner they join the race, the bigger advantages they will have.”
Chun warned that concerns about the education system and its costs would probably worsen without structural reforms to address income inequality, since academic credentials are often tied to employment and marriage prospects.
“It is not an individual matter but a systematic social problem,” she said. “Many parents have only one child, so they are all-in for their education to make sure their children will not experience academic and economic inequality. This is a vicious circle.”
