Board of Audit and Inspection Launches Audit on 'Private Education Cartel'... "Serious Damage to Trust in Public Education"

8 Provinces Targeted... Private School Teachers Also Included in Audit Scope

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) is launching an audit into the so-called 'private education cartel,' involving collusion between public education workers and private education companies. The audit will target eight metropolitan cities and provinces with relatively large private education markets, and private school teachers will also be included in the audit.

On the 28th, the BAI announced that it is initiating the audit to verify the collusion between public education workers and private education companies, following recent media reports that active teachers have been providing mock exam questions to private education companies and earning substantial extra income.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The BAI has tentatively identified that despite 297 teachers voluntarily reporting their profit-making activities during the 'Voluntary Reporting Period for Teachers' Profit-Making Activities' announced by the Ministry of Education on the 21st, many teachers were omitted. Accordingly, the BAI plans to determine criminal and administrative responsibilities for each collusion act, such as providing exam questions, and review measures to prevent recurrence. The main inspection points will include ▲whether individual collusion acts such as providing exam questions and lectures constitute illegal acts ▲compliance with related regulations such as the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and Public Officials' Work Regulations ▲the causes, scale, and legitimacy of extra income. The appropriateness of guidance and supervision by supervisory agencies such as the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial offices of education, as well as recurrence prevention measures, will also be reviewed.

A BAI official explained, "The phenomenon of a private education cartel, where active teachers who are required to uphold a high degree of public responsibility collude with private education companies such as academies to exchange economic benefits, seriously undermines the fairness and reliability of the public education system, including the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and school grades, and causes side effects that deepen dependence on private education contrary to government policies." The official added, "Depending on the progress of the audit, we plan to reinforce personnel specialized in inspection if necessary."