Hagwon

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Hagwon
Hangul	학원
Hanja	學院
Revised Romanization	Hagwon
McCune–Reischauer	Hagwŏn

Hagwon (Korean: 학원) (also Hakwon, Hogwan) is the Korean-language word for a for-profit private academy or institute prevalent in South Korea. The term is also sometimes used to describe similar institutions operated by Korean Americans in the United States.^[1][2] The industry faces criticism because it is seen as creating an unequal footing for the poor and rich in Korea,^[3] while some see hagwons as filling a need not being adequately met by the public school system.^[4] Children of all ages often attend hagwons, even those in the pre-school age bracket. It is not uncommon for students to be enrolled in several hagwon of different subject areas at once in addition to their normal school attendance. Hagwons may specialize in subjects like math, foreign language, science, art, music, or English.^[5] Many hagwons also have adults as students, particularly those dedicated to teaching the English language. Some in Korean society view hagwons and hagwon owners negatively because of their perception that these schools have caused economic issues for many families or been a factor in the disparity between the education levels of different social classes.^[6]

Contents 1 History and regulations 2 Impact on real estate 3 English language instructors 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links

[edit] History and regulations

In 1885, Henry Appenzeller founded the Paichai school as a cover for his missionary work. At the time it was illegal to preach other religions in Korea. Although his main goal was to spread his faith, it was still used to learn English by Koreans.^[7]

Private education, known as kwawoe (과외), was banned by President Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. It was felt the advantage of private education unfairly burdened the poor and to promote equality, all access to it was made illegal. Through the years the government has relaxed the restrictions on private education by increasingly allowing more individuals and organizations to offer private education^[8] until the ban was ruled unconstitutional in the 90s.^[9]

Korean courts have ruled that it may violate the constitution for the government to limit the amount of money hagwons can charge.^[10] In early 2008, the Seoul government was working on changes to the regulations to allow hagwons to set their own hours, citing individual choice as trumping regulation.^[11] However, the government reversed its position 5 days later.^[12] The regulations were criticized as ineffective because the city council possessed limited resources to monitor and enforce them.^[13] Along with these restrictions, hagwons also had to disclose their tuition amounts to the government so people could complain if the schools attempted to raise the tuition.^[14] as well hagwons caught running false advertisements would have their licenses revoked, and they were required to issue cash receipts.^[15] In July 2009, to help catch violators of these new regulations, the government started a program to reward people who reported them.^[16] The regulations were intended to reduce the cost or private education. However, some hagwons added weekend classes to compensate for shorter weekday classes. Other parents have sought out private tutors to make up for lost study time.^[17] Other hagwons simply ignored the regulations. It was reported in April 2009 that 67 percent of hagwons sampled were found to have overcharged for tuition. Forty percent were found to have charged parents over two times the registered tuition amount.^[18]

In March 2008, the government prohibited school teachers from creating test questions for hagwons. It had been found that some teachers were leaking tests and test questions to hagwons, giving the students who attended those schools advantages when it came time to take the test.^[19]

A petition was made in October 2009 by parents, teachers, students and Hagwon owners to challenge the government's legislation regarding Hagwon closing times in Seoul and Busan. The constitutional court ruled that the laws did not violate the constitution.^[20] The restriction was put in place in the summer of 2009.^[17][21] In making the ruling the court said, "Because it’s important to secure sleep for high school students to overcome fatigue and for the sake of their growth, it’s difficult to say that [the ban] excessively restricts basic rights."

[edit] Impact on real estate

A higher than average concentration of hagwons in the Gangnam-gu area, specifically daechi-dong, has been cited as the primary reason for an increase in real estate costs in the area. In the 1970s the Seoul government made some top schools relocate to the area; however, the schools there have become associated with entry into elite high schools and then elite universities. Many residents feel their children need to be associated with these schools in order to reach the upper levels of business and success. As more parents try to move to the area to allow their children to attend these schools it has caused the prices of real estate in the area to rise to 300 percent of similar areas in Seoul.^[3][22] In 2003 the government had planned to develop a hagwon center in Pangyo to relieve some of the pressure on Gangnam,^[23] yet after heavy criticism for only shifting the problem around and not solving it, the government canceled the plan only a couple weeks later.^[24]

[edit] English language instructors

Native English speakers were hired as early as 1883 in Korea, originally out of need. The first teacher hired at the government run Tongmunhak was Thomas Hallifax.^[7] However, due to the preference for having native English speakers teach English, many native English-speakers are still hired to teach at hagwons in Korea. These hagwons may be only English schools or they could also be schools which have a variety of subjects including English. The minimum requirements for such teaching positions are citizenship of USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, and a full university degree obtained in one of those countries.^[25] In return for signing a one-year contract, the institute provides an instructor with a monthly salary, round-trip airfare from his or her country of origin, a rent-free apartment or housing stipend for the duration of the instructor's contract, and an additional one month "severance pay" at the completion of the contract.^[26]

Foreign instructors hold a mixed view of hagwons. Many instructors have had no significant issues with the hagwons they've worked at;^[26] on the other hand, some instructors have reported, or worry about, being fired prematurely so the hagwon can avoid paying the bonus and airfare due to the teacher. Some teachers have also complained about apartment conditions, problems with health insurance, pensions, vacation, and wages. Hagwon owners have complained about the challenge in finding truly qualified teachers.^[26][27]

[edit] See also

• Education in South Korea
• Teaching English as a foreign language
• List of Korea-related topics
• Juku

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• "학원 (學院) [Hagwon]" (in Korean). Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=296120&v=43. 

[edit] External links

• Korea Association of Hakwon (in Korean)