THE South Korean government recently announced a plan to boost English education, with the purpose to curb the so-called “private education fever” across the nation, the JoongAng Daily has reported.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, from 2011, third- and fourth-year elementary school students will receive two hours of English instruction per week, up from one hour at present, and fifth- and sixth-graders will have one more hour of English classes each week. The ministry will also have middle and high schools set aside at least one hour per week for English conversation classes.
Starting with 2011 admissions, universities will no longer be allowed to take into account the records of applicants' English tests such as TOEFL and TOEIC in their screening process, Education Minister Ahn Byong-man said. Choi Su-tae, a high-ranking ministry official, said, “We have concluded that English tests such as TOEFL and TOEIC promote private education under normal circumstances.” “Private education can be reduced only after universities adequately take into account the strengths of public education in their admissions procedures,” added Ahn. The ministry also plans to raise the percentage of the listening test score in the English section of the annual college scholastic aptitude test, from the current 34 percent to 50 percent, starting with students entering college in 2014, so schools can focus on teaching practical English.
The series of decisions was unveiled in the 2010 policy report by the education ministry to President Lee Myung-bak, who said he was “quite discontented with the nation's education system”. The ministry has set “reducing private education fees” as the primary agenda item for 2011. It will step up English education at schools because the subject accounts for the biggest portion of private education spending.
As part of the effort to limit private education, the government plans to conduct surveys on private education costs in 16 cities and provinces nationwide. It also plans to establish a system that would check to see whether the education policy has any element that's likely to cause students to rely on private education. In addition, the number of “schools free from private education” will be increased from the current 457 to 1,000 by 2012.
