The rapid expansion of South Korea’s early private education sector has led to children as young as four being enrolled in rigorous after-school academies, known as hagwons. (Image created by AI/ChatGPT)
SEOUL, April 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s intensifying early childhood education culture has come under fire, with critics condemning hyper-competitive entrance tests for young children as a form of child abuse.
On April 16, a coalition of 1,000 citizens filed a formal petition with the National Human Rights Commission, urging the government to investigate and ban so-called “7-year-old exams” — entrance assessments for elite English academies that some children prepare for as early as age six.
At a press conference in front of the commission’s Seoul office, the group, calling itself the National Accusers Against 7-Year-Old Cram Exams, described the trend as a human rights violation.
“Children are forced to memorize English sentences and undergo interview drills for the sake of academy admissions,” the group said, demanding strong government intervention and a nationwide investigation into preschool and early elementary shadow education.
The explosive growth of South Korea’s early private education sector has seen children as young as four enrolled in intensive after-school academies, known as hagwons.
In Seoul’s upscale Daechi-dong district — long known as the epicenter of elite tutoring — some seven-year-olds are taught using third- or fourth-grade American elementary school curricula. From 2019 to 2024, the number of private English-language preschools nationwide jumped from 615 to 842, while the number of general kindergartens declined.
This file photo taken Feb. 8, 2024, shows a building housing cram schools in Seoul’s Mokdong. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Mothers’ online communities increasingly share advice on how to prepare toddlers for entrance exams using U.S. workbooks such as Spectrum Test Practice, a resource originally designed for native English-speaking elementary school students.
The hypercompetitive atmosphere has drawn concern from international observers. Joanne Williams, a professor emerita at the University of California, reacted to South Korea’s 2022 total fertility rate of 0.78 with dismay in an interview with EBS, exclaiming, “Korea is completely doomed,” as she buried her face in her hands.
Experts increasingly link the country’s plummeting birthrate — now the lowest in the world — to the psychological and financial toll of raising children in such an education-obsessed society.
In a previous report, the Financial Times highlighted that nearly 48% of Korean children under the age of six participate in private education. It described the system as one in which “intense academic pressure begins well before elementary school,” driven by a belief that only top university placements and elite corporate jobs guarantee social success.
Korean education specialists have warned that excessive early academic pressure can harm young children’s brain development and emotional health. Overexposure to bilingual environments at too young an age, they say, can lead to emotional stress, anxiety, irritability, and even physical symptoms like alopecia.
More importantly, social-emotional skills — not academic drills — are critical in early childhood development.
The growing consensus among child development experts is clear: without targeted regulation and accurate monitoring of the early childhood education sector, Korea’s youngest learners may be paying the price for an achievement-at-all-costs culture.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
