K-12 Korean "Shadow Education"

From: db Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 Subject: The Daily Stat: South Koreans Spend Heavily on "Shadow Education"

South Koreans Spend Heavily on "Shadow Education"

Parents in South Korea spend up to 30% of their income on the after-school lessons, cram schools, and practice exams that are known there as "shadow education," despite government efforts to reduce family expenditures on private tutoring. In 2009, 87.4% of primary-school students, 74.3% of middle-school students, and 62.8% of high-school students in South Korea received some form of private tutoring, according to Soojeong Lee of Dankook University and Roger C. Shouse of Penn State. Parents view shadow education not only as a requirement for good careers but also as a sign of status, the researchers say.

Source: The Impact of Prestige Orientation on Shadow Education in South Korea at http://soe.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/06/08/0038040711411278

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Sweden outlaws home schooling

by Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 8/19/2009

The founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association says home schooling in Sweden will soon be banned altogether, with a few minor exceptions.

Mike Farris says that Sweden will ban all home schooling except for children with medical exemptions and foreign workers with the appropriate work visas.

"That's it. People who have religious convictions or are home schooling for religious reasons will not be given one of these very rare exemptions," he points out. "And so for all intents and purposes, home schooling is going to be banned in Sweden. They're following the German statute, following the German model."

In Germany, parents face stiff penalties if they are caught illegally home schooling their children. The Romeike family recently left Germany and is seeking asylum in the U.S. after facing stiff fines and the potential loss of custody rights for home schooling their children. The Home School Legal Defense Association is offering them legal help.

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