Private education for children before the school age does not significantly improve their linguistic or problem-solving abilities on a short-term basis, and could have negative emotional effects such as low self-esteem, a study by a state-run research institute showed Tuesday.
Senior researcher Kim Eun-yeong of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education shared the results of the study conducted by her team, which studied 72 first-graders and their parents living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, in a lecture for Ministry of Education officials. The study hoped to determine the effects that private education had on children under the age of 6, which is when children are required to begin compulsory education under Korean law.
Some 65.33 percent of the children received private education, according to the survey. Of these, 32.24 percent studied academic subjects, 37.65 percent studied other fields such as art and sports, while 30.1 percent received private education for both. The parents spent on average 198,000 won ($140) on private education per month, with wealthier households spending more.
Though 79 percent of parent respondents said they intended to either start or continue private education for their children, the study's results indicated that early exposure to private education did not have any substantial relation to their childrens' linguistic, problem-solving and executive function development. This implies that private education did not have a positive impact on the development of these abilities, researchers noted.
Receiving private education at kindergarten age in non-academic fields could have a positive impact on the child's diligence and empathy, the results showed. It was found that "children with more experience in private art education programs were less likely to have concentration difficulties."
However, the research suggested that studying academics at a kindergarten age could negatively impact the child's self-esteem.
Researchers also studied the long-term impacts that private education had on kindergarten-age children. They found that while it somewhat improves the child's academic abilities in the earlier stages, it was on a non-substantial level.
"No significant effects of private education were found in socio-emotional aspects such as self-esteem, life satisfaction, and overall happiness. This suggests that private education alone is unlikely to guarantee long-term academic achievement or emotional well-being for children," the study said.
Even when the study controlled for "various factors such as the child's IQ, household income and parental education level, the independent effect of private education was found to be small." This indicated that other factors could "play a more important role in a child's development."
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
