Pres. Lee Urges EBS to Help Reduce Private Tutoring

President Lee Myung-bak yesterday urged Educational Broadcasting Service, a state-funded public broadcast network, to help reduce household dependence on private tutoring.

He said TV lectures on university entrance examinations should be enough to prepare for college admission and that school education should provide comprehensive and personality education.

At a meeting with education officials at EBS in Seoul, President Lee said his administration has set the goal of removing private tutoring, expressing fears that continued heavy dependence on private education could result in parents no longer being able to afford private education.

President Lee said his drive to eliminate private tutoring is aimed at not only reducing the economic burden on households, but also preventing unilateral tote learning that could hurt student creativity.

He emphasized that his “education welfare” is aimed at preventing students from poor families from being disadvantaged in education and reducing private education spending to allow everyone to have access to education.

After hearing about a student who entered one of Korea’s most prestigious universities thanks to EBS TV lectures and who dreams of becoming president, President Lee joked that the job of a president is “difficult, dirty and dangerous.”

yongari@donga.com