[2023 National Audit] '4.7 Times University Tuition'... Most Expensive Childcare in Seoul

Seoul Butler Language Academy, 2.65 Million KRW per Month
"High Tuition Fees Entrench Educational Polarization"

The average monthly tuition fee for nationwide half-day or longer English academies for young children, so-called 'English kindergartens,' was found to reach 1.74 million KRW. In particular, the tuition fee at the academy charging the highest cost reached 2.6 million KRW per month, which is more than four times the annual university tuition fee burden.

According to the analysis of the special inspection results submitted by the Ministry of Education on the 11th, received by Kim Young-ho, a member of the National Assembly Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, and analyzed together with the civic organization 'Society Without Worries about Private Education' (hereinafter referred to as Sawokse), the monthly tuition fee for nationwide half-day or longer English academies for young children averaged 1.745 million KRW.

Half-day or longer English academies for young children refer to English academies for young children with teaching hours of 3,600 minutes or more per month (3 hours a day × 20 days), commonly called 'English kindergartens.'

The region with the highest monthly tuition fee for English kindergartens was Incheon, recording 2.187 million KRW. Kim’s office analyzed that this is because high-cost English kindergartens are concentrated in the Songdo area of Incheon. However, the location of the academy with the highest monthly tuition fee was Seoul. In Seoul, the highest monthly tuition fee was 2.6 million KRW, and the lowest was 650,000 KRW. This is the largest gap nationwide, with nearly a 2 million KRW difference in monthly tuition fees for English kindergartens.

Where exactly is the academy with the most expensive English kindergarten tuition? According to a separate estimate by Sawokse based on tuition fee information data disclosed on the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education website, the academy charging the highest tuition fee among English kindergartens in Seoul was Butler Language Academy, recording 2.65 million KRW per month. The annual burden amounts to about 31.79 million KRW, which is 4.7 times the average annual university tuition fee.

The cost of private elementary schools was also considerable. According to Sawokse’s survey results, the average annual parental burden for private elementary schools in Seoul was about 9.8 million KRW, which corresponds to 1.5 times the average annual university tuition fee. The school with the highest cost was Uchon Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, where parents bear a high amount of 14.68 million KRW annually. If a child attends an English kindergarten for 2 years and a private elementary school for 6 years, the tuition fees alone would exceed 100 million KRW.

Assemblyman Kim said, "High-cost English academies for young children, which are the starting point of private education in Korea, may further entrench educational polarization," adding, "The government should manage and supervise English academies for young children that encourage early competitive education, improve the problems of early cognitive learning that do not fit the developmental stages of infants and toddlers, and above all, prioritize guaranteeing the rights of young children to play and rest."