Per Capita Monthly Private Education Expenses 321,000 Won... Highest Record Again in 7 Years of Continuous Increase

Private Education Participation Rate Hits 74.8%... Low Participation in After-School Classes
5.2 Times Spending Gap Between High- and Low-Income Groups... Families with Fewer Children Spend More on Private Education

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Private education expenses per elementary, middle, and high school student have increased for seven consecutive years, reaching another record high. The participation rate in private education has also continued to rise since 2016.

It was also confirmed that elementary and middle school students who wish to enter autonomous private high schools or special-purpose high schools spend more on private education.

The Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea announced on the 10th the results of the "2019 Elementary, Middle, and High School Private Education Expenses Survey," conducted last year on about 80,000 parents and teachers from 3,002 schools nationwide.

In this survey, the average monthly private education expense per student was 321,000 KRW, an increase of 10.4% (30,000 KRW) compared to 291,000 KRW in 2018. This marks the seventh consecutive year of increase and the largest increase ever recorded.

By school level, elementary students spent 290,000 KRW (up 10.3% from the previous year), middle school students 338,000 KRW (up 8.4%), and high school students 365,000 KRW (up 13.6%).

Monthly average expenses for subject-specific private education were 235,000 KRW, up 10.6% (23,000 KRW) from the previous year. Among these, Korean language was 23,000 KRW (up 11.0%), English 94,000 KRW (up 10.8%), mathematics 90,000 KRW (up 8.8%), and social studies/science 13,000 KRW (up 12.4%).

Excluding students who do not receive any private education, the average monthly private education expense per participating student was 429,000 KRW, an increase of 7.5% (30,000 KRW) from the previous year.

Accordingly, the total scale of private education expenses in Korea reached approximately 21 trillion KRW, up 7.8% (1.5 trillion KRW) from 19.5 trillion KRW the previous year.

Among these, subject-specific private education expenses amounted to 15.4 trillion KRW, an increase of 8.0% (1.1 trillion KRW). By subject, Korean language was 1.5 trillion KRW (up 8.4%), English 6.1 trillion KRW (up 8.2%), and mathematics 5.9 trillion KRW (up 6.2%).

Private education expenses for arts, physical education, hobbies, and general culture were 5.4 trillion KRW, up 7.0% (360 billion KRW).

The private education participation rate was 74.8%, up 1.9 percentage points from 72.8% the previous year. The participation rates were 83.5% (up 0.9 percentage points) for elementary students, 71.4% (up 1.7 percentage points) for middle school students, and 61.0% (up 2.4 percentage points) for high school students.

Additionally, the participation rate for general subjects was 56.7% (up 3.3 percentage points), and for arts, physical education, hobbies, and general culture was 44.0% (up 1.5 percentage points).

On the other hand, the participation rate in paid and free after-school programs conducted by schools was 48.4%, down 2.5 percentage points from 51.0% the previous year, marking a decline for six consecutive years.

The average monthly private education expense for households with a monthly income of 8 million KRW or more increased by 6.6% to 539,000 KRW, while households earning less than 2 million KRW saw a 5.2% increase to 104,000 KRW, showing a 5.2-fold difference between the two groups.

Furthermore, students aspiring to enter autonomous private high schools, science high schools/gifted high schools, and foreign language/international high schools spent 476,000 KRW, 444,000 KRW, and 452,000 KRW respectively on private education, which was higher than the 278,000 KRW spent by students aiming for general high schools.

By region, Seoul had the highest private education expenses at 451,000 KRW, while Jeonnam had the lowest at 181,000 KRW, showing about a 2.5-fold difference. This gap has widened compared to the previous year's largest difference between Seoul (411,000 KRW) and Chungnam (187,000 KRW), which was 2.2 times.

For families with one child, private education expenses were 361,000 KRW; for two children, 341,000 KRW per child; and for three or more children, 245,000 KRW per child, indicating that families with fewer children spend more on private education per child.

Based on the results of this survey, the Ministry of Education plans to diagnose the causes of changes in private education expenses from various perspectives and to induce a reduction in private education expenses by blocking the influence of private education through simplifying the college entrance system and strengthening fairness.

An official from the Ministry of Education said, "We will consistently implement policies such as strengthening public education and resolving the concentration of high schools in Seoul to restore trust among students, parents, and the public. Together with metropolitan and provincial offices of education, we will establish measures to reduce private education by the end of next month, considering the educational environment and characteristics of private education in each region."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.