Government plans tougher oversight, higher fines and whistleblower rewards
South Korea’s Education Ministry on Thursday unveiled a package of measures to tighten oversight of private education fees, following a probe that uncovered widespread irregular charges at private academies.
The announcement came during a joint briefing with other ministries marking the launch of a government task force on living costs.
While the ministry said overall private education fees have remained broadly in line with, or below, consumer inflation, a special inspection of 15,925 academies found that 2,394 institutions had engaged in improper fee hikes, resulting in 3,212 administrative actions.
The inspection targeted academies in the top 10 percent for tuition within each regional education office’s jurisdiction, as well as those with steep fee increases over the past five years.
Violations included overcharging, inflating additional costs such as mock exam fees, materials, uniforms and meal charges, and counting self-study hours as instructional time.
Among the cases identified, 58 were referred for criminal complaints, 24 led to license cancellations, 69 resulted in suspensions and 707 drew fines totaling 930 million won ($632,000).
The ministry said it will step up monitoring of illegal practices, including online and social media advertising that promotes early learning, high-priced short-term intensive courses and excessive fees, in cooperation with the Korea Internet Advertising Foundation. It also plans to encourage more active public reporting.
To strengthen oversight, the ministry will seek to raise whistleblower rewards tenfold and introduce financial penalties to recover illicit gains, with a ceiling under review of up to 50 percent of related sales.
Authorities will also refer serious cases to police and tax authorities for further investigation.
In addition, the ministry plans to raise the maximum fine for violations of the Private Teaching Institutes Act, including false tuition disclosures, from 3 million won to 10 million won.
“The government will move swiftly to implement these measures so the public can feel a tangible reduction in private education costs,” an Education Ministry official said.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
