To Get Into Medical School, 5th Graders Must Learn 11th Grade Math... Academy Scene Promotes 'Elementary Medical School Class'

Daechi-dong Elementary Medical School Class Now Found Nationwide

Amid signs of a medical school craze sparked by the government's policy to expand medical school quotas, so-called 'elementary medical school classes' preparing students for medical school from an early age have spread nationwide.

On the 13th, the education civic group "Society Without Private Education Concerns (Sawokse)" announced that an online survey conducted from the 15th to the 30th of last month found promotional materials for elementary medical school classes in 16 cities and provinces nationwide, excluding Jeju. A total of 89 academies were found to have promotional materials for elementary medical school classes, with 136 programs offered.

Elementary Medical School Prep Class in the Academy District of Daechi-dong, Seoul
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

In terms of the number of academies, Seoul had the most with 28, followed by Gyeonggi with 20, Daegu with 10, Incheon with 5, and Busan with 3. Elementary medical school classes are academies that accelerate the curriculum to prepare for medical school. An analysis of the disclosed curriculum by Sawokse showed that the average advancement in math learning in these elementary medical school classes was 4.6 years.

In other words, students in the 5th and 6th grades of elementary school have already completed middle school courses and are studying math courses for the first year of high school. For example, one academy in Daechi-dong was teaching the 'Math 1' course for the second year of high school, seven years ahead, to 5th-grade elementary students. Compared to the regular school curriculum, this means students are receiving advanced education 14 times faster.

Meanwhile, at a discussion held on the same day between Kang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Innovation Party for Justice, and Gu Bon-chang, director of Sawokse's Policy Alternative Research Institute, Gu stated, "Advanced private education products like elementary medical school classes not only increase the burden on students and parents but also worsen educational inequality," and urged the enactment of the 'Elementary Medical School Class Prevention Act,' saying, "Current laws cannot regulate this at all."

Assemblywoman Kang emphasized, "If private education sites like elementary medical school classes are left unchecked, educational gaps and inequality will worsen," and added, "We need to thoroughly and objectively diagnose the actual situation of elementary medical school classes in the academy sector and seek institutional alternatives to solve the problem of advanced education."