Cram Schools and Such

People are obsessed with education here. Kids from elementary school on go to cram schools after their regular schools to get an edge. I did not get how popular cram schools are until I read in the paper today that there are 398,000 teachers in regular schools and 518,000 in cram schools. Add the unlicensed teachers and the number jumps to around 600,000.

The schools cost varies but they average around $500 a month per kid. One of the teachers said he spends about $800 a month for cram school for one of his kids. Not sure how people can afford this.

I guess it is no surprise that Korean kids do so well on international tests for math and science. English on the other hand...