Can we break the "internal competition" in tutoring classes?, South Korea wants to kick out the "killer question" of the college entrance examination | The "killer question" of the college entrance examination | South Korea

In South Korea, it is not uncommon for parents of "chicken babies" to be caught up in cruel education practices. The "hellish difficulty" of the Korean university education ability exam and the high cost of extracurricular tutoring classes have brought great pressure to Korean teenagers and their parents, and have also caused a series of social problems such as a sharp decline in the birth rate and frequent mental health problems among teenagers. In response, the South Korean government announced this week that it will exclude high difficulty "killer questions" from the South Korean college entrance examination. However, can this controversial measure truly work? The public opinion is full of discussions.

South Korea will cancel the "killer question"

Since entering high school, the lives of Korean teenagers have revolved around the university learning ability exam, which is equivalent to the Korean college entrance examination.

On July 1st, CNN reported that South Korean high school students have ample reasons to feel anxious. They will face the test of "killer questions" during the Korean college entrance examination, which may be headache inducing advanced calculus or obscure literary excerpts.

For example, in recent years, in the Korean language exam of the Korean National College Entrance Examination, candidates have been asked to answer questions about equity capital and risk weighted assets. These questions sometimes do not fall within the scope of the subjects being tested, and sometimes even exceed the scope of the curriculum in the public education system.

On June 26th, South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Chou ho announced that he will remove high difficulty questions from the "college entrance examination" to prevent the exam from benefiting candidates who repeatedly train in extracurricular tutoring classes.

Li Zhouhao stated that the Ministry of Education's move is aimed at "breaking the vicious cycle of private education", which has intensified the burden on parents and eroded the fairness and justice of education. It is expected that these changes will be reflected in the South Korean college entrance examination in November this year.

According to a previous report by Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Yoon Seok yeol stated on June 15th that content outside the scope of textbooks should be excluded from the scope of the "college entrance examination", sparking speculation among various sectors in South Korea about the difficulty of this year's "college entrance examination". He also stated that it is necessary for the government to vigorously promote the plan to reduce off campus tutoring fees.

CNN stated that when faced with the "killer question", most Korean students choose to attend private tutoring classes and receive additional tutoring and courses. These tutoring classes are called "hagwons" in South Korea. For Korean students, it is common to attend tutoring classes directly after school and then return home to continue studying until early morning.

A large number of tutoring classes have also enabled private education in South Korea to make rapid progress in recent decades, earning a lot of money.

According to statistics from the South Korean Ministry of Education, in 2022, 78.3% of primary, secondary, and high school students in South Korea participated in private education tutoring classes. The total expenditure of Korean families on private education is as high as 26 trillion Korean won, an increase of 10% from 2021. On average, each elementary, middle, and high school student spends 410000 Korean won per month on private education.

Trapped in "involution"

Both Korean parents and students have been caught up in a cram school competition.

According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the admission rate of universities in South Korea is close to 70%, higher than 51% in the United States and 57% in the United Kingdom. In order to prevent their children from falling behind, regardless of their social class, Korean parents will invest a large amount of resources into their children's education.

According to analysis, although over 70% of Korean high school students can be admitted to universities, only 2% of them can be admitted to prestigious universities, and almost all of them come from private schools, which further exacerbates the "internal competition". Many Koreans believe that failing to get into prestigious universities means they cannot find good jobs, as large Korean companies such as Samsung and Hyundai typically only hire graduates from prestigious universities.

The strict education system in South Korea has brought a heavy burden to students and parents, and has also triggered a series of social problems.

On the one hand, the high cost of education is becoming a burden on Korean parents and has become one of the main reasons why Koreans are unwilling to have children.

According to a latest statistics from South Korea, in the first quarter of this year, the average monthly amount of children's extracurricular tutoring fees paid by South Korean families was higher than the total food and accommodation expenses. Many families feel anxious because they cannot afford the high tuition fees.

According to CNN, South Korea is often considered the country with the highest education costs in the world. Not only do many young couples refuse to have children to avoid falling into poverty, but many also believe that even if they want to have children, they can only concentrate all resources on one child. Last year, South Korea's fertility rate hit a new global low, with the total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman of childbearing age has given birth to in her lifetime, dropping to 0.78 in 2022.

On the other hand, student internalization has also become a major factor leading to mental health problems among Korean adolescents.

Data shows that South Korea has the highest teenage suicide rate among all OECD member countries. According to South Korean government data, in 2022, among nearly 60000 high school students surveyed nationwide, nearly a quarter of boys and one-third of girls reported suffering from depression.

Can we break the vicious cycle?

Faced with the problem of "internal competition" in South Korean education, can the "killer question" be kicked out of the "college entrance examination" to truly break the vicious cycle of private education? Some analysts believe that the actual impact of this controversial measure may be limited.

In the past, the South Korean government has implemented policies to crack down on tutoring classes, but the results have been minimal.

According to the Deutsche Welle website, in 1980, then South Korean President Chun Doo hwan banned all extracurricular private educational institutions, but this strategy ultimately failed. At that time, although Korean tutoring classes were once forced to go underground, the wealthy class in South Korea could always find loopholes to evade the law. In 2000, the South Korean Constitutional Court completely abolished the ban on extracurricular tutoring, citing that it "violated the basic right of citizens to educate their children.".

Now, can the South Korean government change the current situation by targeting the private education industry through reform exams?

Regarding this, Jiang Haonan, the executive vice president of a math tutoring institution in South Korea, believes that students attending tutoring classes are preparing for various difficult exam questions, not just "killer questions". Moreover, announcing the adjustment of exam difficulty less than 5 months before the college entrance examination can actually make students more anxious and flock to private institutions.

Some critics also argue that the South Korean government's move is simply simplifying a complex issue, with the aim of gaining more support before next year's parliamentary elections.

The public opinion believes that the South Korean government needs to make deeper changes to improve the education and employment environment in order to free students from internal competition and ultimately increase the birth rate.

Shen Surong, an activist for the South Korean civil society organization "A World Without Private Education Worries," said that the government needs to come up with a broader plan to address the problem of excessive competition in order to enter a few prestigious universities.