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63 English academies penalized for excessive education for preschoolers

Published: 03 Aug. 2025, 18:09

Parents look through children's books at a book fair held in Coex, southern Seoul, on July 10. [YONHAP]

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education uncovered 63 English academies for young children that promoted excessive early education, such as prepping 4-year-olds for civil service-style testing. Administrative penalties included suspended operations, correction orders and fines.

Between May 1 and July 31, the Seoul education office inspected 248 English academies that catered to preschoolers. Of those, 63 were found to have violated regulations by operating longer than a half-day — defined as over four hours — or engaging in improper marketing such as pre-enrollment level testing.

Violations included improper tuition collection, the misuse of terms like “kindergarten” or “school” in their names, illegal student recruitment methods such as pretests, failure to report facility modifications and breaches in signage and posting requirements.

Among the 63 violations, one case was hit with suspended operations, 56 were issued correction orders and six received administrative guidance. The office also imposed 10.2 million won ($7,350) in fines across 18 cases.

The most common infraction involved tuition-related issues in 42 cases. Other violations included six cases of misusing institutional names, seven cases of false or exaggerated advertising, 13 cases of unregistered facility modifications, five cases of failing to notify the office of instructor employment or dismissal and two cases of advertisements for curricula not appropriate for the target age group.

In particular, 11 academies that used level tests as a form of scare-based marketing or to stir up competitive pressure were instructed to revise their enrollment methods to use lotteries or counseling sessions instead.

“Private education is now spreading into the preschool level,” said Seoul's superintendent of education. “We will continue to strengthen inspections and guidance to promote sound academy operations and help reduce household spending on private education.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]