He gets up at 7:00 am and arrives at school before 8. After school at 2:45, he rushes to a private institute where he immediately hits the books for his extra-curricular study, staying there until 6:00 pm. Twice a week, he remains even longer, for an extra English lesson from 6:00 to 7:15 pm. Finally, he makes his way home and eats something. Then he tackles his homework from 8:30 to 11:00. Then he goes to bed. This is the routine every school day of the week.
This is not a story of long ago, or of a student prepping for college entrance exams today. This is the daily schedule for Yook-chul, who is seven years old and in his first year of elementary school. He’s learning quite a lot in school, and studying very hard. He’s also taking a number of special classes, from piano lessons to abacus calculation. These lessons are weekly, while his Tae-kwondo lesson – the Korean martial art of empty-handed self-defense, takes place every other week. Of course, someone must pay for all of these private lessons, and Yook-chul’s parents do – to the tune of $1,100 a month.
When their second son enters pre-kindergarten in the Fall, this couple will have to lay out even more money, and this is starting to worry them. Added to this future worry, like everyone else these days, the couple is bending under the present rising gas prices and water fees, and the general cost of living.
Yook-chul’s parents are not alone. An estimated 70 percent of Korean families want to invest more in their children’s private education, no matter what the cost. In a recent survey on how parents finance their children’s after-school lessons and instruction, the New York Korea Times reported that an increasing number are using credit cards. Twenty percent of Korean parents said if their children wanted to learn something else, they would add or replace a lesson.
The average Korean family spends an estimated $830 to $1,130 a month for extra-curricular study per child. The typical costs can be: after-school study – $500 per month, for lessons five days a week; music lessons – $180 per month; sports, such as swimming – $150 per month. Girls usually want to study ballet, which can get really expensive. Also, kids don’t just work around the clock – they work all year around; during summer vacation, Korean parents are paying summer school fees, which run between $1,000 to $ 2,000 per child.
The startling thing about these fees is that the younger the child the higher the cost.
Ms. Choi, a resident of Flushing, NY, said, “When I think of what I pay for my firstborn, who is in 10th grade, I don’t think it’s that bad. But when I look at what I’m paying for my second son, who is in the third grade, I’m, amazed at the difference – his lessons cost more than his older brother’s.”
Ms. Chong who has a daughter in the third grade, said, “I want to give my daughter the chance to learn many things while she is young and able to absorb knowledge quickly. Right now, she’s studying in various fields at the basic level; later she can reduce her lessons.”
Mr. Chul-won Kim is also very serious about educating his two children and very worried about the financial burden. He said, “I really have the strong hope that my children will get full scholarships to college.”
Koreans place great emphasis on education, and the parents recognize that it is their responsibility to give their children the best education possible. No matter how burdened the parents might feel, they will continue to support their children’s education.
