Education Ministry to inspect study abroad agencies for false ads

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Amid South Korea's growing demand for private education, the Ministry of Education said Monday it will conduct a special inspection on agencies that arrange or help students study abroad.

The Ministry of Education will focus on false and exaggerated advertisements of such centers to put the brakes on sales methods that prompt advanced learning and promote private education from August to September, with the cooperation of the 17 provincial offices of education nationwide.

The ministry will also check for violations of Article 17 of the Education Act, such as whether the institutions are not registered as official organizations to provide educational services.

"We have collected cases of false and exaggerated advertisements on the internet posted by study abroad agencies," said an official in a local media interview. "The inspection will be conducted as soon as the inspection of medical schools for elementary students is finalized."

According to the Special Act on the Promotion of Public Education Normalization and Regulation on Precurriculum Education, cram schools and private tutors are prohibited from advertising that promotes advanced learning.

However, as there are no punishment provisions, false and exaggerated advertisements have not disappeared, despite the guidance of the Ministry of Education, the official explained.

Such actions come after the ministry raided private cram schools that hold classes for "medical school entrance examination for elementary students" last month, where they found 130 cases of advertisements suspected of inducing advanced learning or false and exaggerated advertisements.

Such classes were rampant in the country, designated for students wanting to become doctors, teaching mathematics at the level of a high school junior to fifth graders.

By Choi Jeong-yoon(jychoi@heraldcorp.com)