Demand for private education defies Korea's declining demographics

Despite decaying demographics, Koreans are spending more on private education and opening more cram schools. There were 109,488 cram schools and private study rooms in the country as of 2022, up 17.4 percent from two years ago, according to...

Advertisement banners for regular and repeating students are posted in the streets of Noryangjin in Dongjak District, southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Despite decaying demographics, Koreans are spending more on private education and opening more cram schools.

There were 109,488 cram schools and private study rooms in the country as of 2022, up 17.4 percent from two years ago, according to the Tax Statistics Information Service.

There were 116,681 in the second quarter of this year. Spending on private education rose 34.1 percent to 25.9 trillion won ($19.4 billion) over the two-year period.

At the other end, the school-age population — between ages 6 and 21 — shrank to 7.26 million this year, down 8 percent from the number in 2020.

The graph shows the decreasing school-age population in Korea between 2019 and 2023. [TAX STATISTICS INFORMATION SERVICE]

A third-grader son of Jeong, a 37-year-old living in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, goes to five different private academies after school hours where he is taught how to play violin, jump ropes and do science experiments. Some 2 million won per month is spent on these activities.

“The purpose is to make friends and have an early try at sports and instruments,” Jeong said.

In Gangnam District, southern Seoul, a 17-year-old schoolboy surnamed Kim recently began taking additional maths and Korean language arts lessons from private tutors to get solid A-level grades in the subjects.

He has already been going to four cram schools since summer break to study maths, Korean, English and science.

“I was on edge seeing my classmates’ letter grades jump after receiving pinpoint tutor lessons over the break,” Kim said.

Workbooks for English grammar are displayed in a bookstore in downtown Seoul on July 17. [YONHAP]

Parents spending more on their single child

The dropping birthrate ironically played a role in maintaining a high demand for private education, experts say.

“Households now mostly have a single child. The parents, who went through fierce competition, want to provide the best for their kid’s education and want them to gain an edge,” said Lim Mi-ryung, executive of a civic group against extreme private education.

“A sheer drop in the number of children raised the per capita income has allowed more households to be able to afford private tutor fees,” said Park Nam-ki, a professor of education at Gwangju National University.

The intensifying educational fervor subdivided the curriculum in the private education sector.

Cram schools that used to teach general lessons on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in big lecture rooms now teach classes targeting specific universities and majors in small groups.

Private academies on arts and sports branched off from Taekwondo and piano to other categories.

“Young parents who have high cultural desires even send their kids to golf and horse-riding classes,” Lim added.

Signboards of private cram schools fill the streets of Daechi-dong in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on March 7. [YONHAP]

Structural changes in policy and households

Changes in the public education sector also prompted people to send their kids to private academies.

“Writing after-school activities on students’ school records was disallowed and the quota for regular admissions [that look at CSAT grades] increased,” said Jung Ji-young, a professor of education at Ewha Womans University.

“Students are structurally driven into private cram schools,” Jung added.

The rising number of dual-income households is another factor heating up private education as working couples send their kids to private education facilities while they are not home.

On parents’ online communities, sending kids to these academies is commonly cited advice for child care in a dual-income family.

“Send the kid to a cram school that runs shuttle buses,” “Let the kid take Taekwondo or fine arts classes,” read some of the comments under an article asking for tips on how to care for a first-grader until the parents return home near 7 p.m.

BY YI WOO-LIM, SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]