The main entrance to Seoul National University (Image provided by SNU)
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean civic group is initiating a class-action lawsuit to help parents recoup some of the excessive fees spent on college consulting services.
Professor Yang Jeong-ho of Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Education announced the plan at a seminar on so-called private education cartels held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on January 11.
During the seminar, Yang revealed that parents who had paid exorbitant fees, some up to 500,000 to 1 million won per hour for consulting, are being recruited online for this lawsuit. Yang had previously exposed ten major types of private education cartels.
The seminar also highlighted the issue of former high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology becoming external directors or auditors at private education companies, potentially facilitating lobbying activities.
An analysis of official records showed that former and current senior public officials held substantial shares in private education companies. This problem, Yang argues, needs resolution.
A South Korean civic group is initiating a class-action lawsuit to help parents recoup some of the excessive fees spent on college consulting services. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
To combat this private education cartel, a special investigation committee has been formed in collaboration with education civic groups. The committee will take legal and non-legal actions against high-ranking officials, CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) examiners, educators, and entrepreneurs involved or cooperating with the cartel.
As its first action, the committee plans to proceed with a class-action lawsuit to refund the excess fees paid for college consulting. This consulting service, which matches students’ CSAT and school grades with suitable colleges and departments, has long been criticized for burdening parents.
Each educational support office currently sets a ‘per-minute tutoring rate cap.’ In Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, for instance, the consulting fee should not exceed 5,000 won per minute or 300,000 won per hour. However, actual fees often far exceed these limits.
Professor Yang emphasized that recovering the excess amount and returning it to parents would be a significant step in breaking the private education cartel. He also advocated for the disclosure of stock holdings of all education-related public officials, not just high-ranking ones, in the Ministry of Education and local education offices.
Additionally, he suggested lifelong monitoring of retired high-ranking government officials to prevent their involvement in private education businesses.
Yang also proposed that the government should manage personal information in application services controlled by private education companies to prevent indiscriminate use.
Lee Ki-jong, a former CSAT examination committee member and honorary professor at Kookmin University, suggested that to prevent collusion between the CSAT and private education, the exam preparation system should change. Instead of the current system where questions are made in a secluded camp, he recommended a ‘question bank’ style.
Lee pointed out that if a professor suddenly goes on a long business trip during the CSAT exam preparation period, their identity as a member of the CSAT committee could be revealed to the tutoring industry.
“Creating questions in a secluded place for a month, as is done now, doesn’t seem productive. If we collect questions regularly and set them considering factors like how students respond, like the Educational Testing Service (ETS) does, it would reduce negative effects,” Lee suggested.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
