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Hagwon vs. Public School
COMMUNITY
Katy’s class - Hagwon classrooms are generally small.
A Couple’s Point of View Written and photographed by Katy Clements
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My husband’s school has a typical work-day schedule from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whereas I have worked in hagwons that vary in placement of work hours. Kindergarten hagwons, which also serve elementary, middle, and high school students, open early and close late, whereas adult hagwons are typically open in the evening. Pay is a huge difference between public school and hagwon workers. A public school worker can see a raise in their yearly pay and can top out at 2.7 million won, but a hagwon worker can usually only receive the maximum of 2.3 million won. A public school worker can also acquire a travel school (a second school to teach at) or work in a rural area, which can lead to a bonus. It can be argued that hagwon employees are paid less because a typical
July 2020
When I applied for my position, I worked with a recruiting agency. Recruiters are scouts that represent a hagwon for a finder’s fee. If I am unimpressed with the schools that a particular recruiter is representing, I can find an available job posting on my own or work with different recruiters. Hagwon positions are abundant, and they hire year-round, so job availability is not an issue. My husband applied with the Jeollanamdo Language Program (JLP), and while I was able to juggle multiple job inquiries, he was only able to work with the agency
he first applied with. Additionally, the intake for public school is usually open twice a year: April and August. The requirements for either institute are the same. Both of us had to have apostilled degrees, at least a bachelor’s degree, a background check, and a health check. However, public school workers are typically picked up at the airport, trained during an orientation period, taken to get their health checks, and then dropped off at their new apartment. My experience was that I had to go get health checks myself and find my own transportation from the airport. www.gwangjunewsgic.com
hen we travel back home to visit with family and friends, we are always bombarded with questions regarding our work. Even though we both have the same job title, we work in two different types of institutions. I work in a hagwon (학원, private academy), and my husband works in a public school. Through our relationship, we have learned to work around the particulars of each job, but it is not until we explain the differences to friends that we really notice. Education in Korea is a chief cornerstone of life and an ever-growing business. Typically, young citizens are required to commit to grueling hours of studying for exams and tests. Because most want to aspire to enter an elite university, the demand to learn English is high, and this leads to the desire for native English-speaking instructors.
6/25/2020 12:43:31 PM
