The Ministry of Education said on Apr. 1 it will raise the share of third graders in elementary school who receive 500,000 won a year in after-school program vouchers to 70% by the end of the year. For middle school students, it will run writing and essay programs, and for high school students, it will provide college admissions counseling services free of charge.
The Ministry of Education on the day announced a "policy plan to reduce private education costs" centered on these measures. After aggregates for private education spending at elementary, middle, and high schools were tallied to have exceeded 27 trillion won last year, the Ministry of Education drew up countermeasures to ease parents' private education burden.
First, the Ministry of Education will expand eligibility for after-school program vouchers for elementary school students. An after-school program voucher is a voucher that can be used for programs such as coding and soccer after regular classes end. It was provided for the first time this year to third graders in elementary school. Currently, 57.2% of third graders receive the voucher, and the Ministry of Education will increase this share to 70% by year-end. Next year, fourth graders in elementary school will be added to the voucher eligibility.
The Ministry of Education will also operate writing and essay programs linked to reading club activities at all middle schools by 2030. The "one classroom, two instructors" system, which individually teaches students who struggle to keep up with class, will be expanded from 4,400 schools at the end of last year to 6,000 schools this year. Students with dyslexia or borderline intellectual disabilities will be identified early and supported with specialized programs through 188 Learning Clinic Centers nationwide.
For high school students, college admissions counseling will be available through the national college admissions information portal. The Ministry of Education will introduce an interactive college admissions search function on the portal within the year to establish specialized counseling for the comprehensive student record screening. Next year, it will provide a personalized university assessment service based on individual grades. In 2028, it will also support tailored academic counseling designs using artificial intelligence (AI) linked to students' desired career paths. The Central Support Group for Career and Academic Planning, consisting of 450 current teachers, will be increased to 1,000 by the second half of this year.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education will conduct intensive inspections of expedient and illegal acts related to hagwon tuition fees. It will also revise the Hagwon Act to establish grounds for sanctions that restrict lectures by hagwon instructors who engaged in transactions involving teachers or test items. It will introduce penalty surcharge regulations for illegal acts such as collecting excessive tuition fees and operating without registration. The Ministry of Education is currently reviewing setting the penalty surcharge at "up to 50% of sales." For failures to report temporary closures or permanent closures, fines will be raised from up to 3 million won to up to 10 million won.