By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Some 67 percent of hagwon, or private cram schools, have overcharged parents and underreported tuition costs to regional education authorities, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday.
According to the ministry, 358 cram schools out of a sampled 500 charged parents more tuition than was reported to each regional education office. Among them, more than 40 percent charged parents more than twice the standardized tuition level and 8.1 percent charged more than five times.
About 74 percent of foreign language institutes were overcharging, and 74 percent of hagwon for the college admission test breached rules, it said.
It said 85 percent of 1,516 parents surveyed were under pressure due to hagwon tuition costs for their children. About 37 percent replied they had given up sending their children to hagwon due to the fees.