[2023 National Audit] 17% of Nationwide Young Children Take the '4-Year-old Exam'

It has been revealed that 17% of English academies for young children, so-called 'English kindergartens,' require an entrance level test as a condition for admission. The entrance level test, also known as the '4-year-old exam,' is criticized for intensifying the early education competition among young children.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Education on the 12th to Kim Young-ho, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, there are 144 English academies nationwide for young children that select students using a preliminary level test, accounting for about 17.0% of the total.

The proportion of English academies for young children conducting preliminary level tests varied greatly by region. Chungbuk recorded the highest proportion with 3 out of 8 academies (38%), followed by Chungnam with 4 out of 14 (29%), Incheon with 11 out of 40 (28%), Gyeonggi with 58 out of 228 (25%), Gyeongnam with 9 out of 39 (23%), and Jeonbuk with 2 out of 10 (20%), all in the 20% range.

Seoul had a lower proportion compared to the national average, with 43 out of 283 academies (15%). Daegu, Sejong, Gyeongbuk, and Jeju had no academies conducting level tests at all.

The preliminary level test for admission to English academies for young children is called the '4-year-old exam.' According to Kim Young-ho, in the case of famous academies, some children start private tutoring at a young age or purchase test question banks with money to pass this 4-year-old exam.

Kim said, "It is a regrettable reality that infants and toddlers who have not even properly learned their native language are subjected to 'lining up' level tests to enter English academies, experiencing the hell of entrance exams from an early age. This must be improved without fail."