Kim Ki-hoon is not the average teacher. The South Korean private English tutor makes $4 million a year, mostly from high-school students who pay to watch his lectures online for $4 an hour. Kim's success as a private tutor highlights the competitiveness of South Korean education.
3
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons (KDI School)) Korean students listen to a professor at KDI School
Kim Ki-hoon is not the average teacher. The South Korean private English tutor makes $4 million a year, mostly from high-school students who pay to watch his lectures online for $4 an hour. Kim's success as a private tutor highlights the competitiveness of South Korean education, especially when the free market allows teachers to become celebrities.
Like Us on Facebook
Kim teaches at a private, after-school tutoring academy called a "hagwon" in South Korea. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kim works about 60 hours a week teaching English. He records his classes and puts them up on the Internet, available for purchase online at the rate of $4 an hour. He only spends three hours a week giving these lectures. For the rest of the week, Kim is busy responding to students' online requests for help, developing lesson plans, and writing textbooks and workbooks - he's already penned 200 accompanying texts.
"The harder I work, the more I make," Kim told the Wall Street Journal. "I like that."
A large part of his earnings come from the 150,000 kids who watch his lectures online each year, mostly high-school students preparing for South Korea's version of the SAT.
According to WSJ, South Korean 15-year-olds rank No. 2 in the world in reading, behind Shanghai. The country now has a 93% high-school graduation rate, compared with 77% in the U.S.
In Korea, education comes at a price, especially as hagwons have become the norm for students. The more you can afford, the better your tutor. Kim has reached almost celebrity-like status as one of the most coveted tutors in the country, where he can hike up his prices and make as much as a professional athlete in the US. Nearly three of every four South Korean kids attend a tutoring academy. In 2012, their parents spent more than $17 billion on hagwons.
This system means students are enduring an endless cycle: public school during the day and hagwons in the evening. Parents are also involved - they receive text messages when their children arrive at the academies each afternoon, as well as messages and phone calls from tutors to update parents on their children's progress.
"The only solution is to improve public education," Kim said.
Until then, he'll keep his title as the millionaire teacher.
Tags : South Korea Education, private tutor
FEATURED VIDEO : POTLUCK: 5 QUESTIONS FOR ANNE BURRELL
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.