OECD (Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development) report shows lower secondary education class-size averages of 35.8 students where OECD reports the average at 24)
Korea also spent excessively on education in the private sector compared to other countries, the report said.
The OECD, the Paris-based grouping of wealthy countries, released these and other findings entitled "Education at a Glance." The organization gathered and analyzed the academic statistics of 30 member and 19 nonmember countries between 2001 and 2003.
The average number of students per classroom in Korea was 35.7 for elementary schools, the largest of all surveyed OECD countries. In junior high, it was 37.1, far larger than the OECD average of 23.7.
The figures are only slightly lower than 36.3 and 37.7 for elementary and junior high school recorded in last year's report.
Korea's classes were also far larger than other developed countries. Japanese elementary schools had an average of 28.8 students per class, France 22.6, Germany 22.2 Australia 25.0 and Portugal, 19.1.
In Korea, one teacher supervised an average of 31.4 students at elementary schools, 20.7 at junior high schools and 16.5 at high schools. Although slightly lower from last year, it was still high compared to the OECD's corresponding mean figures at 16.6. 14.4 and 13.1.
The report also showed Korea spent 8.2 percent of its gross domestic product on public education, higher than the previous year's 7.1 percent. This compared with 6.1 percent in Canada, 5.3 in Germany, 7.3 percent in the United States and the OECD average 5.6 percent.
The high percentage derived from lofty private spending, with 41 percent of the entire education expenses paid for by parents or private education foundations and organizations. The remaining 59 percent came from the government.
The OECD average is 89 percent for the government and 12 percent for the private sector, or parents and private foundations.
"Because the costs for private lessons and tutoring is exceptionally high in Korea, the overall education spending came out higher than other countries, although the public education cost alone was not as much," Kim Kwan-bok of the Education Ministry said.
The report also showed a total of 5,759 students from abroad came to Korea to study in two-year or four-year colleges and universities in 2002, up 60 percent from 2,985 in 1998.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/24/41277858.pdf
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