22% of Children Aged 0-6 Use Private Academies
40% of Parents Feel Burdened by Private Education Costs
It has been revealed that the trend of private education, such as academies and study materials, is strong even among infants and toddlers before entering elementary school.
According to the results of the 5th-year 'KICCE Consumer Behavior Survey' announced on the 18th by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education (KICCE), 21.9% of the 2,393 infants and toddlers aged 0 to 6 surveyed answered that they had used an academy within the last three months. The response indicating experience with academies was only 15.5% in the first-year survey conducted in 2018. Here, academies refer to short-term academies excluding half-day or longer English academies (kindergartens) and play academies.
The proportion of infants and toddlers attending academies increased with age. 41.8% of 5-year-olds and 55.8% of 6-year-olds attended academies. This is also a significant increase compared to 29.4% and 41.7% in 2018, respectively.
The most common subject taken at academies was physical education (60.8%). This was followed by art (35.0%), English (12.6%), music (11.3%), math and science (9.7%), and languages other than English (6.4%).
Among other private education outside of academies, 12.0% used visiting study materials. 7.6% used cultural centers, and 2.2% and 3.3% responded that they used visiting and non-visiting educational tools activities, respectively.
English kindergartens and academy vehicles in the academy-dense area of Songpa-gu, Seoul [Image source=Yonhap News]
This phenomenon is analyzed to be because guardians who feel a lack in public education (such as daycare centers or kindergartens) are turning to private education. The dependence on private education, which used to intensify from middle and high school students, has now extended to the infant and toddler stage.
Additionally, 'care demand' is cited as one of the reasons why infants and toddlers are drawn to private education. In the case of dual-income couples who have no one to take care of their children after kindergarten or daycare, it is not uncommon to choose academies as a place to leave their children until the parents finish work.
40% of parents who provide private education to their infant and toddler children reported feeling burdened by the cost of private education. 30.2% answered 'burdensome,' and 9.8% said 'very burdensome.'
Academy users spent an average of 3.9 hours per week and paid an average of 166,000 KRW per month. Also, the higher the income, the higher the average monthly cost tended to be. Households with a monthly income of 3 million to 3.99 million KRW (148,000 KRW) and those with 6 million KRW or more (188,000 KRW) showed a difference of 40,000 KRW.
When asked why they use private education despite feeling burdened by the cost, 35.6% answered, 'Because they are afraid their child will fall behind peers.' 10.5% answered, 'Because they think pre-learning is necessary.' 30.5% answered, 'To develop their child's talents or abilities.'
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