▲ 5 months before the CSAT, the government has launched an intensive crackdown on the ‘private education cartel’ over exaggerated advertising and exaggerated advertising at private academies. (Reporter Go Iran)
It was found that high-income families with middle- and high-school children spend an average of 1.14 million won a month on academies.
According to microdata from the National Statistical Office’s household trend survey on the 25th, households with children aged 13 to 18 among households in the 5th quintile, the top 20% of household income in the first quarter of this year, spent an average of 1,002,000 won per month on academy and supplementary education.
Excluding households whose children did not participate in private tutoring (those with no spending on academy or supplementary education), the average monthly private academy cost was 1,143,000 won. This amount amounts to 17.5% of the average monthly expenditure of 6.53 million won for the 5th quintile households with young children.
Their monthly average expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages was 636,000 won, and their housing, water, and energy expenditures were 539,000 won. This means that the cost of a school for a child is similar to the total cost of food and housing for the entire family.
Among households in the 4th quintile with the same conditions, households whose children participated in private tutoring spent 849,000 won on academy and tutoring education, and 636,000 won on the 3rd quintile.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage expenditures were 567,000 won for households in the 4th quintile and 518,000 won for households in the 3rd quintile.
On the other hand, it was found that households with poor economic conditions also spend a lot of money on private academies.
Among households with children in middle and high school, households whose children participated in private tutoring spent an average of 482,000 won per month on academy and tutoring education in the first quarter. ) more than
Households in the second quintile also spent more money on private academies (515,000 won) than food (465,000 won) or housing (417,000 won).
However, since this is a simple average value that does not reflect the weight of each household, it may differ from the actual figure.
▲ Tension is flowing in the academy district in Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul.
The most expensive subject for private education was English. According to the “2022 Elementary, Middle and High School Private Education Expenditure Survey” jointly conducted by the Ministry of Education and the National Statistical Office, private education expenditures spent on English averaged 123,000 won per month, the highest among major subjects. This was followed by △mathematics 116,000 won △Korean 34,000 won △social sciences 18,000 won △essay 13,000 won.
There were also large differences in private education expenditures by region. By region, private education expenditures in Seoul were the highest with a monthly average of 596,000 won. Gyeonggi (446,000 won), Daegu (437,000 won), and Sejong (418,000 won) followed. Jeonnam, the lowest private education expenditure, recorded 261,000 won, less than half of Seoul.
The private education participation rate was also the highest in Seoul at 84.3%. Gyeonggi and Sejong followed with 82.1% and 80.5%, respectively. The private education participation rate of elementary school students in Seoul reached 91.2%.
The higher the score, the higher the expenditure on private education. Among high school students, students whose school grades were in the top 10% spent an average of 590,000 won per month on private education.
Students in the top 11% to 30% spent 545,000 won and those in the 31% to 60% spent 478,000 won on private education. 61-80% of students spent 410,000 won, and 81-100% spent 323,000 won on private education.