National Assembly Bans Entrance Exams for Preschool Academies

The National Assembly held a plenary session on March 12 and passed an amendment to the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Private Tutoring Businesses and Extracurricular Lessons, which prohibits the so-called 'Age 4 Exams'—excessive admission tests young children had to take to enter preschool academies. This amendment was prepared to prevent excessive competition among young children and to alleviate their competitive burden by adjusting the selection methods used by academies.

According to the amendment, preschool academies will be completely prohibited from conducting written and oral exams for recruiting new students or assigning students to level-based classes. Violators may face cancellation of their academy registration or a suspension of operations for up to one year, in addition to fines of up to 3 million won, as ordered by the Superintendent of Education. However, diagnostic assessments using observation and interviews, conducted with parental consent after academy enrollment, are permitted. The amendment will take effect six months after its promulgation.

A survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education found that 29% of 10,606 parent respondents had experience using English kindergartens for their children. Regional usage rates varied, with Seocho District at 56.0% and Gangnam District at 52.5%, while Jungnang District reported 13.7% and Gangbuk District 14.7%.