Would longer school days keep kids out of private academies? Korea weighs controversial fix
The National Education Commission is debating extending the school day for first- and second-graders, sparking a clash between policymakers and educators. Supporters argue that aligning instruction time with the OECD average will reduce parents' reliance on private tutoring centers, known as hagwons in Korean. However, teachers' groups warn that longer classes will merely delay the daily…
The National Education Commission is considering extending the school day for first- and second-graders, igniting a debate between policymakers and educators. Those in favor claim aligning class time with the OECD average would decrease parents' dependence on private tutoring academies, colloquially known as hagwons in Korean. Conversely, teachers' unions express concern that longer sessions may only postpone the existing after-school hagwon routine without addressing the core issue of inadequate post-school care.
On Thursday, the commission, along with the National Assembly Futures Institute and the Korean Educational Development Institute, convened a policy forum at the National Assembly Library. This marked the first public discussion by the commission regarding the extension of school days for young students.
Hwang In-hyeok and Seong Mun-ju, associate research fellows at the National Assembly Futures Institute, presented figures underscoring the disparity in instruction time. Korean elementary pupils accrue 655 hours of lessons annually, which falls roughly 22 percent—or 190 hours—below the OECD's average of 845 hours.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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