Parental pressure undermines public schools, private tutoring grows

“Teacher, why did you give a test that discouraged my child?”

This was the message a Seoul elementary school teacher received from a parent after a math unit test, according to an interview by The Dong-A Ilbo’s education team. “Subjects like multiplication and division require assessments, but a parent complained that testing would hurt the child’s self-esteem,” the teacher said. A teacher in Daejeon recalled being accused of unfitness after recommending remedial lessons for a student with low basic skills. “The parent said I was labeling the child,” the teacher said in disbelief.

Parental complaints are making even simple in-class tests and school competitions hard to organize. Meanwhile, private education is thriving, offering academic contests in subjects such as Korean and math. In public schools, especially through middle school, assessing student proficiency is nearly impossible due to the lack of formal testing. Parents eager to gauge their children’s standing turn to private competitions to see if their child ranks among the nation’s top students. While fear of parental backlash hinders public education, the private tutoring market has grown, reaching nearly 30 trillion won last year despite declining student numbers.

A recent survey of 795 teachers nationwide, conducted by The Dong-A Ilbo and the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, found that 98.6 percent reported challenges with instruction, evaluation, physical education, and student guidance. On average, teachers felt schools fulfilled only 49.8 percent of their core educational role. Among tasks, 93.8 percent cited student guidance as the most difficult. A teacher in Jeju who died last month reportedly faced parental harassment while managing a chronically absent student.

Experts attribute the collapse of public education to the government’s repeated failure to enact structural reforms following teacher-rights incidents, such as the death of a teacher at Seoi Elementary School. Instead, authorities have relied on short-term, superficial measures. By contrast, countries including the United States and the United Kingdom have established strong legal protections for teachers. The U.S. passed the Teacher Protection Act in 2001, while the U.K.’s Education and Inspections Act of 2006 allows civil and criminal liability for serious student misconduct and limits teachers’ legal duties.

President Lee Jae-myung pledged during his campaign to strengthen public education and reduce household spending on private tutoring. For his administration to fulfill this promise, it must first rebuild the foundation of public education. While college entrance exams top the educational ladder, schools serve as the primary ground for fostering character, civic awareness, social interaction, and personal growth.

A key cause of public education’s decline is the erosion of teachers’ authority. Since democratization, policies have focused on empowering students and parents, often at the expense of classroom discipline and professional respect. To rebuild the system, the government must implement strong legal protections based on international best practices and promote balanced, constructive communication between teachers and parents.