Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kangnamdragon]

What do you think are the main reasons why students are leaving the hagwons?

[waterbaby]

Are they leaving the hakwons?
Are you talking generally about all hakwons or specifically adults, elementary, middle or high school students?

I've only been at mine for 3 months, but the numbers have jumped by about 15 students, a few students have left and there's a lot of new faces. I'm at a small hakwon - we only have about 80 students in total. They're very happy with that figure.

Some of the reasons they've left are that they don't want to learn English anymore, their mum thinks they're too young and not taking it in, or we don't have an appropriate level class for them so they go to another more suitable hakwon. One student changed schools and couldn't make it to his class on time (but occasionally he drops by for a visit).

[itaewonguy]

because they go home crying to mum OHH OMMAA that school is not fun!
CHEMIE OPSO!!

mother replies, its not supposed to be fun!
child: emm its bad school mum, they dont blar blar, and the teachers are really bad CHINCHA!!

mother: emmmm ok!

its all about the fun, korean kids think ENGLISH class is all about fun!
wow foreigner hahahahaa HELLO!! hahahhaa
and if its hardcore studying they say OHH CHIMIE OPSO!!
so you play games, the other parents get angry cause you played games, the director gets angry!! OHHH JUST BLAME THE WAYGOOK!!!



korean kids want to study where there best is!
so they can just sit in the class talking all day and never learn!
smart huh, still then you have the kids complaining that its not fun, trying to manipulate their parents and teachers, its all a game!!
funny thing is these kids JUST DONT REALISE THEY ARE PLAYING WITH THE MASTER!! I was a kid and 100 times better at them to get my own way so they can dream on if they are going to get one over me!!
only thing stopping me is MONEY!!
do I need the money enough to care about my job, if not!
I WALK!!!
then they win!!
many reasons dude..

just like why do teachers leave schools?

[captain kirk]

the beginning of the week a student left. she was twelve. surprise to me. i asked the korean english teacher and she said that this student complained class was boring. that teacher implemented learning games and she still said class was boring. she also complained that one boy in class always teased her. also, she didn't get the prize she was expecting when she got enough bonus stickers for participation. the boss, to her complaints re being teased, didn't move her to another class void of the student that teased her. when she talked to her mother, mom said tough it out. finally, she popped out.
her older sister popped out a week later. some new students arrived and instead of a one-on-one class it was now five people in the class. two of the new students are a year beneath her in the public school level. but instead of showing respect to their elder, they mocked her for expecting them to kowtow; 'why should we!'. so they'd spit and sizzle across the desk at each other, until the elder left.
but five new students arrived lately.

[Korea Newfie]

Do you mean why they're leaving completely, or why they leave particular ones?

For the former, I think all of your options are possible.

As for the latter, I think it's competition. Everybody and their dog has a hakwon here, and one's only qualification to open one is to have enough money to do so. At my first school here, I arrived when it was a year old. When it opened, it was the first one in a new neighbourhood. However, nine months later there were seven in the same area. My director decided to hire another foreigner to attract more students, but it was difficult because of the other schools, and he went belly-up. That was 13 months ago, and last I heard three of the schools closed, and two more opened.

At my current school, the director was a bank manager who decided to get into the lucrative market. He had enough money, bought a franchise, and was off to the races. His was the second school in this neighbourhood, and now there are six. We've managed to stay pretty stable, but unless he can do something to attract more students, I think the end may be near for him as well. While many students stay for years, many parents move the kids to try out the new schools, take advantage of opening discounts, etc.

It really ought to be harder to open a school here.

[bap]

seven students have left my hagwon in the past month. this is a lot for a school with only 30 students. i think it's because the program is horrible and because of the whole name change thing that happened. a lot of parents were angry because they weren't told about it at all!! so a month after the school's name changed they found out about it from the head office of the franchise my school used to belong to. the head office in seoul was calling all the parents telling them not to send their kids to school anymore because it didn't exist. anyways, there was lots of confusion and anger (mostly at my director for not informing anyone of the change) so parents started pulling their kids out.

[rapier]

"students" leave because they tell their parents all sorts of ****, and the parents believe it all. Kids are regarded on the same level as adults here, and what they say is treated very credibly. The kids run the hogwons, in fact. They have the power to get any teacher in trouble, dictate how their lessons are run, on a whim.
The directors are generally afraid of losing students, so they will bow to any requests or complaints the parents (expert teachers) make. And if hogwon A doesnt meet their expectations, theres always hogwon B.
The teaching system doesn't really work, especially for foreigners. Firstly theres a general lack of good communication between director and teacher, so waygook teacher lacks real support and direction. And the kids don't understand teacher because he speaks martian, so they get bored. Most foreigners arent allowed to punish bad kids, so the classes are noisy and disrupted.The teacher loses morale. The parents whinge their kid isn't learning....
My advice: survive the best you can.....!

[schwa]

I think the state of the economy plays a major role in hagwon enrollment. A lot of parents make real sacrifices to send their kids to these classes & recent polls in the Korea Times suggest many families are feeling pinched nowadays like not since the IMF meltdown. Better reputed hagwons in my town are holding steady, marginal ones are losing students.

I had a star student once just stopped coming, then he returned after 3 months. Why? I asked. Turns out he needed eye surgery & his family couldnt afford both.

Outside the affluent areas of Seoul, you might be surprised by a survey of your students' parents jobs. You'll find kids of taxi drivers, shopkeepers, small restaurant owners .. ordinary folk. I employ a housekeeper twice a week whose family scrapes to get by & her hard-earned won go to .. you guessed it .. keeping her 2 elementary school-aged kids in afterschool classes in hopes they will get ahead someday.

Even if the kids dont appreciate their parents' sacrifices, I think we as teachers owe it to our wage-payers (ultimately, these families) to give every class & every student our best effort.

[crazylemongirl]

[jajdude]

I'd have to say often because they are bored a lot and because English is hard for them. It's hard for a kid to spend a long time to learn just a little. If the kid isn't having a good time he will not want to be there. But also there are some who are just whiners. I've had many students who complain all the time. "Teacher, no study. Teacher game. Teacher this game no fun. Another game. Teacher hungry, tired, raining, war in Iraq....."

[Zyzyfer]

At my old hakwon, two students had a father who ran a PC bang...now that's making ends meet.

[Canadian Teacher]

There are all kinds of reasons kids quit hagwans. It is a highly competitive business and with Korea's low birth rates, competition for students is very strong. Take a look around any intersection near a school and count the number of hagwans you see.

[William Beckerson]

near Handaeap station, where my hagwon is located, are at least 5 kiddie hagwons. There may be more that I never noticed.

It's an oversaturated market.