NON-STATE ACTORS IN EDUCATION
2.2 Non-state education provision
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
- Early childhood care and education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Primary and secondary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
- Tertiary education (Entry/Establishment ○ Financial operation ○ Quality of teaching and learning ○ Equitable access ○ Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability)
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
In the Republic of Korea, schools are classified according to the type of funding entities. The 2004 Early Childhood Education Act defines a ‘private kindergarten’ as a kindergarten established and operated by juristic persons or private individuals. Similarly, the 1997 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (amended in 2021) defines a ‘private school’ as a school established and managed by corporations or individuals. Higher Education is governed by the 1997 Higher Education Act (amended in 2021), which declares that a ‘private school’ is a school that is established and managed by an incorporated school foundation.
The 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021), which governs all non-state educational institutions from early childhood to tertiary level, defines a ‘private school’ as a school established by an individual, a corporation, or a school foundation. A school foundation is defined as a corporation organized under the Private School Act to establish and operate only a private school.
2.1 State education provision
State schools
Most schools at primary education (six years beginning at age six), lower secondary education (three years beginning at age 12), and upper secondary education (three years beginning at age 15) are state schools- at 99%, 81%, and 60% respectively. According to the 1997 Framework Act on Education (as amended in 2021), compulsory education covers elementary and lower secondary education (9 years). High school is not compulsory.
Non-state managed, state schools
No information was found.
Non-state funded, state schools
No information was found.
2.2 Non-state education provision
Independent, non-state schools
The Republic of Korea forbids any educational institutions from charging tuition for compulsory education. Meaning most non-state educational institutions does not provide elementary education (only 1%) and are mainly involved in lower secondary education and secondary education (lower secondary19%, upper secondary: 40%).
Foreign schools (International Schools) are those established, managed, and operated by and for foreigners residing in the Republic of Korea or Korean nationals who have lived more than three years outside Republic of Korea. They can introduce their curriculum, language of instructions, and teachers’ guidelines. First, however, they must request authorization to operate in the Republic of Korea.
State-funded (government-aided), non-state schools
Private schools (government-dependent) are privately owned schools that receive government funding. Private schools (elementary, lower secondary, upper secondary) must be organized as School Foundations through the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021), follow the national curriculum, and be run as a for-profit business, but all revenues are used for school management and improvements.
Contracted, non-state schools
No information was found.
2.3 Other types of schools
Homeschooling
The Republic of Korea does not have specific laws regarding homeschooling; however, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act does enact penalties for parent/tutor who fails to send children to compulsory education (Art. 68). During COVID-19, the government, as the primary education source, provided online tools to continue their education. No information specifically to home education was found; however, the White Paper "2020 Educational Responses to COVID-19", mentions that all the measures that were carried out in the implementation of distance education to support all levels of education.
Market contracted (Voucher schools)
No information was found.
Alternative Education Institutions
Alternative education institutions are facilities, corporations and/or organizations that offer alternative education after registering with the superintendent of education. They are not authorized under Article 4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but instead are subject to Article 5 of the Alternative Education Institutions Act. Alternative education institutions autonomously run their curriculum in line with their purpose of establishment and educational objectives, for which their steering committees are in charge of making critical decisions relevant to school management. Moreover, those who are required to receive compulsory education but instead are enrolled in alternative education institutions can be suspended from their obligation to receive compulsory education. However, since the alternative education institutions are unauthorized providers of elementary and secondary education, those who graduate from alternative education institutions are required to take different approaches to have their schooling recognized, such as by taking a government-administered high school equivalence test.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for enacting all non-state educational policies and regulations for elementary, secondary, and tertiary education at a national level. Early Childhood Education and care fall under two ministries, each in charge of their own task. Nurseries are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments. Kindergartens are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Provincial Offices of Education. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for all HEIs.
The Local Education Autonomy Law (1991) provided local governments, including 17 Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education and 176 District Offices of Education, with authority over deciding educational policies significant to their communities under the superintendent’s direction. The superintendent from each jurisdiction is responsible for the supervision over the operation, management, and authorization of kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools, both public and private.
Vision: Korea’s Ministry of Education prepares annual reports outlining education policy goals for the coming year. The Ministry’s 2020 report examines the impact of artificial intelligence and related technologies on the economy and recommends developing draft artificial intelligence education standards for primary and secondary schools to help students be better prepared for a changing economy.
3.1 Regulations by distinct levels of education
The Early Childhood Education Act and its Enforcement Decrees, and the Regulations on the Establishment and Operation of Schools and Kindergartens for Foreigners (2009) cover ECCE in the Republic of Korea, which includes nurseries (ages 0- 5) and kindergartens (ages 3 - 6). 70% of children enrolled in kindergartens go to non-state institutions.
Registration and approval: Non-state Child Care Centers and Kindergartens can be established by private individuals or juristic persons Foreign kindergartens can only be established by foreign individuals and/or foreign non-profit corporations. All providers must submit an application to the superintendent of education accompanied by the prescribed requirements, including a cadastral map of a kindergarten site, ground plan of the building and documents related to the facilities and equipment. According to the 2005 Enforcement Decree of the Early Childhood Education Act (amended in 2022), the competent agency will determine the number of classes and the maximum number of children per class, considering the type of each kindergarten (Art. 16).
Licence: No information was found.
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: According to the 2004 Early Childhood Education Act (Art.26), state and local governments can provide subsidy to help cover expenses incurred in the establishment and operation of private kindergartens, including personnel and training expenses, after school programs, teaching materials, and tools.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: Non-state kindergartens are required to comply with the national curriculum publicly announced by the Ministry of Education, and are subject to the educational standards determined by the superintendent. Foreign kindergartens are allowed autonomy to decide on their curricula.
Teaching profession: The Early Childhood Education Act specifies that teachers must meet the minimum qualification and experiences as those required for public educational institutions (Art. 22 & Art.53-10-2). The Regulations on the Establishment and Operation of Schools and Kindergartens for Foreigners (2009) dictate that foreign kindergartens must notify their respective Office of Education about any person appointed or dismissed by the institution.
Fee-setting: According to the Early Childhood Education Act (Art. 25), kindergartens are not allowed to raise their tuition fees to the extent that it exceeds the average consumer price rise of the immediately preceding three years. Notwithstanding this, a state or non-state kindergarten which fulfills the standards determined by the superintendent may charge tuition fees exceeding the average consumer price rise for the immediately preceding three years based on deliberation by local early childhood education committees.
Admission selection and processes: According to the 2004 Early Childhood Education Act, recruitment processes shall be fair and transparent, and if necessary local governments will draw up a municipal ordinance concerning guidelines for recruitment. (Art. 11).
Policies for vulnerable groups: Vulnerable groups such as statutory low-income households are allowed priority access to kindergarten enrolment.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Institutional evaluation: According to the Early Childhood Education Act (Art. 19), local offices of education can conduct evaluation on the operation of state and non-state kindergartens, whereas the superintendent can release the result of the evaluation. As a result, the evaluation results kindergartens receive from the local offices of education are disclosed by the head of the kindergartens on the official website for public announcement.
Student evaluation: Although there is no formal and/or uniform evaluation performed on kindergarteners, national-level curriculum is implemented at kindergartens, while they are evaluated based on counseling with parents, reflection on the management of curriculum and its feedback system, as well as observation on their play for the purpose of monitoring individual growth and development.
Sanctions: Private kindergarten must request authorization from the superintendent of education to voluntarily close the center. For the kindergarten to close, the superintendent may request the center to provide all documentation stating the status of the children enrolled in the kindergarten, a detailed plan to support their students, and information regarding the center’s facilities and equipment disposal.
Registration and approval: According to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1997 amended 2012), for the establishment of a primary or secondary private school by an individual or legal person or any foreign individual, legal person, or non-profit who intends on establishing a school for foreigners must apply to the Local Superintendent Office of Education. All applications must be accompanied by the required documents, including a cadastral map of a school site, arrangement plan and floor plan of the school buildings, school regulations, expenses, and maintenance methods. Regarding infrastructure, all school facilities must follow the requirements and procedures established in the School Facilities Project Promotion Act and its Enforcement Decree, which includes construction, buildings and land requirements.
Licence: No information was found.
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH): On an annual basis, schools must include health management, environmental sanitation and safety control.
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: Private Education Institutions of compulsory education receive government subsidies. According to the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021), private educational institutions may apply for state support complying with the specific requirements stated by the Presidential Decree or an ordinance of the local government.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: Private schools in the Republic of Korea are required to follow the National Curriculum. However, autonomous schools have the autonomy to establish their curriculum. Although schools for foreigners can have their own curriculum, if they are established by domestic incorporated school foundation, they are required to implement an internationally recognized curriculum authorized by the Minister of Education. In addition, for their curriculums to be recognized at the same level as domestic educational institutions for their students to access local higher education, they must satisfy the criteria established in the regulation, including Korean language and social studies.
Textbooks and learning materials: Private schools that follow the National Curriculum must also implement the textbooks developed within the national curriculum.
Teaching profession: All teachers must meet the same qualifications and minimum standards as teachers in national and public schools (Art.52). In addition, the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021) regulates the conditions of appointment, reappointment, dismissal, disciplinary measures for teachers in private schools. The 2000 Pension for Private School Teachers and Staff Act (amended in 2021) regulates the pensions of private school personnel. Foreign schools can structure their appointment and management system regarding teaching staff. Still, they must notify the Office of Education in charge of any foreign personal schools, both appointed and dismissed. According to the Private School Act (1963 amended 2021), teachers of various schools lower than high schools shall be appointed based on the public screening following a Presidential Decree which prescribed the qualification requirements necessary for performing duties and matters necessary.
Corporal punishment: Although the legislation does not include exact corporal punishment words, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act established that schools must guarantee students’ human rights. No national policy was found regarding Corporal Punishment; however, the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Human Rights of Children and Juveniles establishes cooperation with the Superintendent of Education to eliminate violence, including corporal punishment at private teaching facilities.
Other safety measures and Covid-19: According to the White Paper "2020 Educational Responses to COVID-19", the process of educational response to COVID-19 was a course of continued cooperation and communication between all the parties concerned, including metropolitan and provincial offices of education, universities, relevant ministries, and private institutions. Public and private cooperation included initiatives to support web data, improve the distance education system and create the necessary infrastructure to create a stable distance learning environment. The governmental response included creation, departments, guides, and manuals on online class operation standards, school disinfection, tuition, and support, among other interventions. In addition, local governments equip every private teaching institute, Hak-won, which is frequently used by students, with disease control and prevention system.
Fee-setting: According to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1997 amended 2021), those who established or manage schools can charge tuition and other fees. However, state elementary and secondary schools that receive subsidies from the central government, local governments or local offices of education to cover part of their tuition and other fees cannot charge tuition fees. In accordance with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Art. 23), non-state school tuition fees are determined by the local governments. Schools for foreigners can charge tuition fees.
Admission selection and processes: Private schools (government-aided) must follow the same admission requirements as public schools. The proportion of Korean Nationals who have resided in foreign countries for not less than three years shall not exceed 30% of the fixed number of students in schools for foreigners.
Policies for vulnerable groups: The Framework Act on Education states that no citizen shall be discriminated against in education for gender, religion, faith, race, social standing, economic status, or physical conditions.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
School board: Private schools established as a school foundation are required to have a governing body composed of the Board of Directors responsible for management and operation of the school (Art. 16) and Executive Officers (Art. 14) consisting of 7 directors or more, one of them being the principal director of the school, and two auditors or more which oversee auditing the internal operations and management of the school. (Art. 19).
Reporting requirements: All Elementary and Secondary Schools must submit a report to the superintendent of the competent Office of Education information regarding the school’s operations and management, including students, accounting, teaching staff and admissions. According to the Act on the Prevention of Corruption and the Establishment and Management of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, private school headteachers are liable to a penalty if found guilty of school corruption to a series of sanctions applicable to public officials.
School inspection: According to the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021), the competent agency may investigate the education of private schools, requesting private schools to submit reports on statistics and other necessary matters. Additionally, a public official may inspect account books and other relevant documents.
Student assessment: National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) is not mandatory. The College Scholastic Ability Test, CSAT, is one of the pathways to higher education and is taken selectively by those who require their CSAT grade or scores for college admission.
Diplomas and degrees: No information was found.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
Most tertiary education in the Republic of Korea is provided by non-state higher education institutions (HEIs). HEIs include universities, colleges, industrial colleges, teachers’ colleges, Junior colleges, correspondence colleges and cyber colleges and technical colleges.
Registration and approval: According to the Higher Education Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Higher Education Act, providers of HEIs can be a corporation incorporated into a school foundation. All applicants must submit their application to the Ministry of Education with the required documentation, including interior facilities, school building floor plan, and cadastral map of the school site. The infrastructure is required to comply.
Licence: No information was found.
Profit-making: See Multi-level regulations.
Taxes and subsidies: According to the Higher Education Act, the State and a local government may provide or subsidize financial resources necessary for schools to accomplish their purposes.
Quality of teaching and learning
Curriculum and education standards: Institutions of Higher Education having the curricula falling under medicine, dentistry, Chinese medicine or nursing shall obtain an evaluation and certification from an accredited institution as prescribed by Presidential Decree.
Teaching profession: The Private School Act specifies that teachers of a college educational institution may be appointed by stipulating the terms and conditions of a contract, such as the term of office, salary, working conditions, work and merit agreement (Art. 53).
Fee-setting: Enrollment fee shall be established by each HEI enrollment fee deliberation committee comprised of faculties, students, and related experts, etc. The committee must not set the rate of increase in enrollment fees at a level exceeding 1.5 times the average consumer price inflation for the three immediately preceding years.
Admission selection and processes: Universities are allowed to select their students autonomously within the scope prescribed by law. Each university can use College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) result and high school academic record in their decision-making for student selection.
Quality assurance, monitoring and accountability
Board: According to the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021), every university must constitute a University Deliberation Committee responsible for the university management and operation, including the development plan, regulations, and operations.
Self-evaluation: According to the Higher Education Act, higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to conduct a self-inspection and evaluation on education and research, organization and operation, facilities and equipment, etc., and publicly announce their findings.
Accreditation : The Korean University Accreditation Institute (KUAI), which is affiliated with the Korean Council for University Education, and the Korea Accreditation Board for Vocational Education (KAVE), which is affiliated with the Korean Council for University College Education (KCCE), are in charge of evaluation and accreditation of higher education institutions. The institutions of accreditation, at the request of a university or college, evaluate or accredit the overall management of a university or college and its operation of curriculum. Universities with schools of medicine, dentistry, traditional Korean medicine and nursing are mandated to have their programs evaluated and accredited by the institutions of accreditation.
Assessment: No information was found.
Diplomas and degrees: No information was found.
Sanctions: See Multi-level regulations.
3.2 Multi-level regulations
This section covers regulations on the establishment, operation, and quality of non-state institutions from kindergarten to tertiary education, based on the 1963 Private School Act (amended in 2021).
Profit-making: According to the Private School Act, Private schools organized as school foundations are allowed to run businesses for profit-making to use the profits for the school’s management and are required to follow strict accounting standards (Art. 33).
Quality of teaching and learning
Sanctions: According to the Private School Act (art. 34 &47), the closure or dissolution of a private school can be voluntary (by the Board of Directors) or involuntary (by the Ministry of Education). Any institution that voluntarily intends to close the school must request an authorization from the Ministry of Education or Provincial Offices of Education, including documentation on handling the students, the school register, and the disposing of school property (Art. 2). The Ministry of Education and Provincial Offices of Education can revoke an educational institution’s approval when the institutions cease to comply with the regulations stated in the Private School Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or the Higher Education Act, or any other specific regulation.
3.3 Supplementary private tutoring
In the Republic of Korea, private teaching institutes (Hak-won) are commonly used by students for afterschool tutoring to prepare for the tertiary education exam. The 2001 Act on the Establishment and Operation of Private Teaching Institutes and Extracurricular Lessons (amended in 2021) and its respective 2001 Enforcement Decree (amended in 2021) provide the regulatory framework for private teaching institutions in the Republic of Korea as well as for individuals who provide a private extracurricular lesson. According to the 2021 Private Education Statistics Survey (Statistics Korea), 82% of elementary school pupils, 73.1%of middle schoolers and 64.6% of high school students were estimated to be receiving private tutoring.
Providers of private teaching institutions must apply for authorization from the superintendent of education and include their application information regarding the curriculum, list of instructors, tuition fees, facilities, and equipment. Every provider must be following the requirements to be eligible to apply for registration.
Exit: Facilities can be closed voluntarily (by the owner) and/ or involuntarily (by the state). When an owner intends to close a teaching institute, they shall report with at least a month of anticipation to the superintendent of education. The superintendent of instruction may close a private teaching institution when institutions fail to comply with its authorization requirement.
Financial operation and quality
The superintendent of education supervises private teaching institutions. Providers must maintain the facilities and equipment necessary for teaching and learn in conformity with the local authority’s standards. The curriculum can be determined by the founder or operator, considering the needs of the students. Providers can set their tuition fees; however, when the tuition fee seems excessive, the superintendent of education can adjust the tuition fee. An institution is liable to a penalty when operating without registration.
According to the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Private Teaching Institutes and Extracurricular Lessons (2001 amended 2021), no teacher who belongs to any elementary, secondary, or higher education institution can teach extracurricular lessons as a private tutor (Art. 3). Foreign teachers must comply with the requirements to teach in the Republic of Korea following the laws. Teachers at private teaching institutes must disclose their academic background, major and career for attendees and parent/tutor knowledge.
Individuals who provide private extracurricular lessons shall report his/her personal information, subjects and places, and tuition fees, etc. to the superintendent of education.
This profile has been reviewed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea.
