Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hatcher]

08-14-2011 17:10
60% of SAT institutes in Gangnam violate law
By Yun Suh-young

In an inspection of 28 private academies offering SAT lessons in the Gangnam area in southern Seoul, 18 were found to have disregarded relevant laws, the education ministry said Sunday.

The academies broke the law by failing to make public the recruitment or the dismissal of teachers, failing to properly announce tuition fees, manipulating account books and failing to register as SAT institutes to avoid paying taxes.

The ministry didn�t release the names of the academies.

The ministry and the Seoul Gangnam District Office of Education conducted a joint inspection from July 12 to Aug. 10.

About 40 percent of the academies failed to inform students of the personal information of their instructors, such as academic background, or their previous work experience to the education authorities.

The ministry said the institutes are required to provide such information to students and parents.

�Private institutes must verify the academic credentials of instructors and this must be advertised. Foreign instructors must submit records of their career as teachers and prove that they have no criminal records before starting work at the institutes. Such rules were ignored in many cases by the academies located in Gangnam,� said an official from the Seoul Gangnam District Office of Education.

�We will strengthen monitoring of the institutes in the summer because many high school students visit during their summer vacation to study for the SAT here.�

Some academies were found to charge 42,000 to 48,000 won per hour in tuition, five to six times higher than the standard rate set by the education office_ 7,600 won per hour for Korean instructors and 10,031 won for foreign instructors. These academies received official warnings and were fined.

The education ministry ordered a correction of information to four institutes and gave warnings to 14 others for other violations, according to the education office.

[DaHu]

Wasn't one of these guys just arrested for murder or something? Thought I read that on some thread.

[NohopeSeriously]

Summary: Parents demand these kind of expensive but illegal lectures for their kids. It's a sign that public school English classes in high schools are absolutely worthless for the parents with high school kids. Look at the big picture anyways; private tutoring and hagwon franchises will literally kill the public education to its death and it's perhaps a good thing for Korea.

[ThingsComeAround]

I remember having dinner last night with my gf's mom and we saw those hagwons charge up to (and maybe more than) 1 mil a week for SAT tutoring. Funny how the MoJ doesn't report which schools broke the law. And no schools were closed? Looks like chunky white envelopes solve all the society's ills

[pkang0202]

[northway]

Knowing a guy who owns an SAT prep hagwon, I feel like they're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they have immense seasonal demand for their services, and fulfill a need that public schools are by no means geared towards servicing. On the other hand, given that the demand is seasonal, it's difficult to carry teachers for an entire year, assuming they can even get a visa, given that demand fluctuates so much. And they can't really give out E-2 visas, either, considering they generally aren't registered as language academies.

[robot]

Actually, SAT academies must register as 어학원, and thus are allowed to sponsor E2 visas.

However, given the seasonal demand you've mentioned, along with the fact that it's quite a hassle to go through all the steps of finding an overseas teacher, sorting out the paperwork, setting him up in Korea, et cetera, usually only the bigger companies go this route. It's much more convenient to use local talent. Recognized names sell better, as well.

Some smaller, shadier, often unregistered outfits try to sneak in foreign instructors for the three short summer months, hoping that Immi or the Min of Ed won't come knocking, but clearly they don't always get away with it.

[sojusucks]

So, why were these specific hagwon targeted? They must have had some links to that hagwon where the wanted criminal was just busted. Or the illegal foreign teachers who were busted with him ratted them out.

[NohopeSeriously]

Not many people on Dave know this. 99% of private tutors in South Korea are the biggest tax evaders by law.

[robot]