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S. Koreans spend nearly 7 pct of income on private education
By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean parents spent around 7 percent of their monthly incomes in 2007 to send their children to private education institutes, a government report showed Friday.
According to the report by the Korea National Statistical Office, South Korean parents' private education spending amounted to 20.04 trillion won (US$21.13 billion) last year.
Based on that figure and other reports, South Korean parents spent a monthly average of 222,000 won per child on private education, which accounted for 6.8 percent of the nation's average household monthly income. In 2007, South Koreans spent 2.22 million won on average for that purpose.
South Korea is known for its enthusiasm for education, with many parents taking on an extra job to pay for their children's private institute fees. Dissatisfied with the government's public education polices, parents tend to opt for private education for their children, mostly for subjects such as mathematics and English and other subjects important on college-entrance exams.
Korea's education fever, experts say, will likely intensify down the road as the incoming government of President-elect Lee Myung-bak is keenly interested in implementing what many see as competition-focused education polices. The CEO-turned politician, who takes office next Monday, is currently looking at, among other things, the introduction of English-only programs at elementary schools.
The report, based on surveys of 34,000 parents, was commissioned by the Education Ministry, which wanted to know the size of the nation's private education market and to help the government develop better education polices, the NSO said.
The NSO, however, didn't provide a comparable figure for the previous year, saying that the report was the first of its kind conducted by the government.
Meanwhile, of the total spending last year, the report showed that around 10.2 trillion won were invested in private education for elementary school students, while 5.6 trillion won and 4.2 trillion won were spent on middle and high school students respectively, indicating that South Korean parents are interested in early education for their children.
Parents' educational backgrounds also proved to be closely linked to the overall spending, perhaps because better-educated people earn more.
A household with a father who graduated from university or a higher institution spent 296,000 won a month, compared with 171,000 won and 99,000 won invested by households with fathers with middle school and high school diplomas, respectively, the report showed.
The report also noted that parents in Seoul and metropolitan area spent more than their counterparts in provincial areas.
Statistics showed households in the nation's capital city, where renowned education facilities are concentrated, spent a monthly average of 284,000 won per child on private education, 2.3 times higher than the average reported for provincial regions.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)
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