SEOUL– Seoul has more than 310 English-language kindergartens known for their high cost, about twice as much as annual college tuition, a civic group said Tuesday.
The number of English-language kindergartens in the capital totaled 311 as of the end of last year, an increase of 17 from the previous year, according to the group named World Without Private Education Worries.
Two southern Seoul wards of Gangnam and Seocho accounted for 86 of the total, with 54 located in adjacent Gangdong and Songpa wards.
The average monthly tuition fee for the English kindergartens was 1,126,000 won (US$874), an increase of 30,573 won from the previous year, the civic group said.
The tuition, if converted to an annual basis, amounts to 13.51 million won, about twice as much as an annual average college tuition fee of 6.73 million won, it noted.
The most expensive English kindergarten was in Dongjak Ward, southern Seoul, which charged a monthly tuition fee of 2.65 million won, or 4.7 times higher than the average college tuition.
The daily average teaching time of the English kindergartens was 4 hours and 51 minutes, far longer than that of elementary school first and second graders, estimated at three hours and 20 minutes.
Source: Yonhap News Agency