society
Posted2024.04.29 08:35 Modified2024.04.29 09:57
fierce and planned “admission to high schools” starting from the sixth grade.
GPA is “basic” and good deeds from high school are also essential.
“Secret tutoring” that recruits only the best students
The growth rate of private education expenditures is more than double that of general high schools
“1:1 Close Management” in a managed bar studio
Parents who care about their health should contact an oriental medicine clinic.
A building in Daechi-dong with a famous academy for middle school classes and a famous oriental medicine clinic. /Photo=Reporter Kim Se-rin※ The Korea Economic Daily and Hankyung.com publish the “Daechi-dong Story” series every Monday, examining aspects of educational reality in Daechi-dong. Ms. A, a second-year middle school student living at Raemian Daechi Palace in Daechi-dong, Seoul, maintains the best grades among girls’ middle schools known for their high academic zeal. Miss A’s goal is to enter “Jeonsago” (a national autonomous private high school), and her first priority is Hana High School. Every day, as she gets ready for school, she repeatedly listens to the audio of conversations in English. 07:30. On my way to work, I ride in the car with my parents and get to school in about 5 minutes to start a busy day. I listen carefully during lessons at school. During the breaks we continue with “5 minutes of questions to the teacher + 5 minutes of review”. School end time is 3.10pm. They take their parents’ car and wait in front of the school, eat a snack and go to the academy or to the “managed study café”. 10pm. On the main road of the Daechi-dong academic district, cars of parents who came in time for school are lined up. Miss A’s parents’ vehicle is one of them. After returning home, voluntarily return electronic devices such as smartphones. In this state, I continue my self-study, including listening to online lectures, and go to bed at midnight.
However, this does not mean that you only study rigorously. Health care, including taking vitamins and nutrients, is essential. Miss A also takes “Chongmyeongtang”, which she received from a famous oriental medicine clinic in Daechi-dong. The course consists of sitting for a long time in this oriental medicine clinic and receiving 15 minutes of treatment to relax the stiff body, then returning to the studio bar.
Preparing “fiercely” for admission to high school starting from the first year of middle school… “Secret” group tutoring.
A “small elite academy” specializing in middle school mathematics in Daechi-dong. /Photo = Reporter Se-rin Kim Students preparing to enter “top” high schools like Hana High School in Daechi-dong establish specific career and advancement directions starting in their first year of middle school. At this time, it is essential to attend an “Entrance Exam Information Session” conducted by a renowned academy admissions counseling expert. In the case of the highly competitive Academy D entrance information session, you have to pay 30,000 won for three sessions. Each quarter, a first-come, first-served, close-early basis applies. Through information sessions, parents can gain insight into the type of talent, curriculum and teaching pursued by each private high school and determine whether the curriculum is right for their children.
In general, only students who have maintained “A” grades in Korean, English, math and core subjects throughout their three years of middle school are likely to pass the first test. The competition is fierce. In this year’s independent/special purpose high school entrance exam, Hana High School placed first overall with 567 applicants for 200 students, a competition rate of 2.84 to 1. An example of facility where “Pig Mom” contacts parents of top students. /Graphics=Reporter Se-rin Kim To ensure competitiveness, it is essential to take advanced courses in core subjects. Parents of students entering private high schools prefer special classes and small-group tutoring. Parents of higher-achieving children are sometimes approached by so-called “mother pigs” who say, “Let’s make a team together.” There is also an implicit rule that first- and second-place students from the same school cannot form a team together. Members are often separated into men and women and the school no longer has students in one school, with two students from Middle School A being female and two from Middle School B being female. Mr Bae, a parent who was contacted by Pig’s mother and said he had been placed in a “special class at his own high school”, said: “My son’s grades have been good since primary school, But as soon as he entered middle school, Pig’s mother contacted me asking if I was interested in a ‘talent course’.” When the mother said to the famous instructor, “We gathered four students,” the instructor explained, “We offered 4 million won, four times a day month, so the four students paid 1 million won each.
1 million won of “entrance exam consultancy” and even a unique academy… The “bomb” on private education expenses
A building at an educational counseling academy for entrance exams in Daechi-dong. /Photo=Reporter Kim Se-rin It doesn’t end here. You should prepare a self-introduction and practice for the interview with a professional admissions consultant. The material required is a school booklet. Consultation time is usually limited to one hour per session. The price range is determined by the consultant and varies from a minimum of 200,000 won to 1 million won per month. You also need to attend a separate academy to prepare for competitions and performance evaluations. If this happens, the cost of private education will inevitably be double that of students preparing to enter general high schools. According to the “Results of the 2023 Survey of Private Education Expenditures for Elementary, Middle and High Schools” of the Ministry of Education and the National Statistics Office, the rate of increase in private education expenditures for students who wanted to enter private high schools last year was 7.4%, more than double that of students who wanted to attend general high schools (3%). In the same year, the average monthly cost of private education for middle school students who wanted to attend private high schools was 748,000 won. Parents say it actually surpasses this. A parent from Daechi-dong said, “I spent an average of 3 million won a month for three years while preparing for high school admission.”
Private education expenses for middle school students in Daechi-dong also go to somewhat “unusual” academies. One of them is a speed reading academy. People search for it for reasons like “to make reading Korean language passages for the CSAT easier” and “because speed reading helps me remember when I’m solving problems.” Many people also attend “middle school programming academies” to participate in various programming competitions and investigative reporting competitions. An official from a programming academy in Daechi-dong said, “Considering that programming education in elementary, middle and high schools will be mandatory starting from 2025, it is good to get used to programming from a young age.”
Children becoming “planners” in a “managed study café”
A view of the “Managed Coaching Center”, a managed studio cafe in Daechi-dong. /Photo=Reporter Kim Se-rin After entering Jeonjeon High School, most students live in boarding schools, so they have less time to attend private academies and focus on private education. In this sense, there is an atmosphere in which self-directed learning is attempted in advance. Right now, parents’ eyes are turning to managed studio cafes. Daechi-dong’s “managed reading room” is open only to high school students, but the managed study cafe, which provides one-on-one coaching, welcomes only middle school students. The price range varies from 320,000 won, 690,000 won, and 740,000 won for 4 weeks, and the price increases as the “premium” is added.
The study bar run by “K”, which has become popular among Daechi-dong’s parents, has three teachers who take care of each student. Depending on the stage of the learning plan, the curriculum is structured to fit the eye level. At the learning management level, we provide coaching consultancy on learning strategy, management of English vocabulary and incorrect answers, provision of memorization sheets, management of daily weekly study volume, management of online lesson learning progress and check daily study-up.
We also carefully monitor the child’s habits and management of daily life. From controlling school and school timetables, to banning the use of cell phones, to managing 30 minutes of sleep per day, to managing diary writing and managing in/out text messages, etc., are applied scrupulously. Parents can check their children’s weaknesses, learning abilities, attitudes and goals in the form of a report once a month.
The most important thing is “health”… People search for “Chongmyeongtang” starting from middle school.
Daechi-dong mothers put a lot of effort into taking care of their children’s health more than anything else. In the Daechi-dong mom community, Chongmyeongtang is often recommended. Chongmyeong-tang has long been established as a personalized herbal medicine for high school students, but it is now also popular among mothers of middle school students who have quite busy schedules. In Daechi-dong Academic District, there are many cases where oriental medicine clinics are attached to the famous academy buildings. This is the optimal condition for reducing children’s travel times. A medical staff member of an oriental medicine clinic in Daechi-dong said: “Most of the patients from Daechi-dong are parents, but there are many cases where children from rural areas bring their children to the academies of Daechi-dong and even go to the hospital.”
Kim Se-rin, Hankyung.com reporter celine@hankyung.com
#times #month #million #won.. #Daechidong #mother #pigs #secret #tutoring
