Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Fame, fortune for Web tutors in education-crazy South Korea
Thu Jul 2, 2009 8:36am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - For a teacher who never sees his students and instructs only online, South Korean Woo Hyeong-cheol makes a lot of money, $4 million a year to be exact.
Woo is not affiliated with any institution that is part of the official school system, but the 46-year-old math instructor is considered one of the best cram school tutors in education-obsessed South Korea, with his Web-based classes as well-known among test-taking teens as top-rated TV dramas.
"School teachers are concerned about creating moral people. We focus more on getting the students better grades in a short amount of time. That's why we are needed and popular," said Woo, who commands a salary higher than almost all of the top baseball players in the country's professional league.
Woo is among a group of about a dozen instructors raking it in because they are thought to be the best at raising scores.
The bulk of their income comes from online classes that are easily accessible in the world's most-wired country, where more than 90 percent of households can receive high-speed Internet.
South Korean teens are often in the classroom for at least 10 to 12 hours a day, preparing for entrance exams that determine whether they will enter a top university, which in turn can lead to an elite career path and which can even make them a good catch when the time comes to get married.
Last year, about three out of four students received some form of private education after school hours. The money spent on cram schools and tutors hit 20.9 trillion won ($16.33 billion), according to the National Statistical Office.
Woo, dubbed "the shovel" for his threats to whack unruly teens with big metal objects, posts tutorials on the Internet, where they are accessed by about 50,000 paying subscribers.
He combines straight talk, humor, intimidation and most importantly, guidance on how to find correct answers to the difficult math section of entrance exams.
"I think I can trust him up until the big day," one of his student said in an anonymous Internet posting.
BRAND-NAME TEACHERS
Online classes, far cheaper than cram schools, have become a standard part of education expenses for parents, who also usually hire private tutors and enrol their children in cram school.
Critics say the system is geared toward passing the entrance exams, which means students have few analytical skills. In exam subject such as English, students are much better at answering written questions about grammar than speaking the language.
The pressure-packed education system is also blamed for making South Korea have the lowest birthrate in the developed world. It has led some to simply opt out, with fathers, typically the breadwinners, living cheaply in South Korea to pay the costs of sending the children, mothers in tow, overseas for education.
"These late night classes ... can lead to various problems, including a lack of sleep that decreases the effectiveness of learning while raising issues of mental health," said Woo Ok-yeong from Health Education Forum, a child advocacy group. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Fame, fortune for Web tutors in education-crazy S.Korea
Also on Reuters
New York apartment sales down over 50 percent
Slideshow
Slideshow: Hollywood's highest paid actresses
Caribbean states fight to ride out economic storm
More Technology News
Gamer steals from virtual world to pay real debts
China paper says Web filter only a matter of time
| Video
MySpace, Web servers not liable for assaults: court
Jay Leno wins cybersquatting case
Web advertisers propose self-regulation principles
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Air New Zealand staff bare all to get flyers' attention
UPDATE 1-Arianespace launches "largest commercial satellite"
Millionaires' springtime optimism wilts: survey
North Korea raises tension with missile launch
Honduras resists pressure to allow Zelaya's return | Video
U.S. Marines fan out in big south Afghanistan assault | Video
Pet python kills Florida toddler
Kevin Jonas, of Jonas Brothers, engaged
Iran hardliners want Mousavi prosecuted
NY City apartment sales down over 50 percent
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Testing the reset button
Michael Jackson will revealed
U.S. begins Taliban offensive
Honduras: Micheletti won't back down
Deadline for Honduras looms
Crash girl phones home
Jackson Will
Afghanistan's war within
Private Fawcett funeral held
Franken wins Minnesota Senate seat
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.