The biggest challenge in the secondary mathematics education is getting students ready for the university entry exam,
which is called the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).
A large portion of many family budgets is spent on providing private
tutoring for the children in preparation for the CSAT.
More recently, Korea has been experiencing an increase in teenage suicides
and violence among students. Korean officials believe
that these problems are the side effects of the phenomena referred
as “Education Fever".
The government is taking steps to cool down the education fever a bit.
Recently, the government imposed a curfew of 10 pm for hagwons, but as one teacher
I interviewed revealed, “[The curfew] is only on paper.” Many
students even buy online lessons for after school and after hagwon
hours at home.