SUWON, Jan.25 (Korea Bizwire) – New studies show that children from wealthier families score higher on university entrance exams, due to private tutoring and classes at private study academies that their parents can afford to send them to.
According to Gyeonggi Province’s Office of Education, the scores in three different subjects differed by as much as 43.42 points depending on household income.
Students from households with an income of lower than 1.25 million won per month scored an average of 93.96 points in Korean, 91.16 in math, and 90.76 in English. However, students from households with a monthly income between 2.9 million won and 3 million won scored an average of 98.96 points in Korean, 91.69 in math, and 90.74 in English.
The gap was even larger when the monthly income of a household was over 5.8 million won. These students achieved 105.22 points in Korean, 105.59 in math and 108.49 in English.
Officials from the education office commented that even though students’ test scores could have been influenced by other factors, such as the student’s performance at school, study habits, parenting style and school atmosphere, the difference in average scores is very suggestive. “Though the college entrance exams are thought to be a fair measure of abilities, there are elements that do not make it very fair. The results of the analysis show that higher scores are not created through general education from elementary school to high school, but rather through private tutoring and extra classes at private institutes.”
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)