In this blog post, we will examine the recurring corruption issues in private schools, their causes, institutional loopholes, and improvement measures.
From the grade manipulation scandal at ‘S’ Girls’ High School to various other corruption issues exposed in private schools over the past few years, these incidents continue to cast a deep shadow over the education sector. The fact that such unfair practices have repeatedly occurred in an education system that should prioritize fairness and transparency has severely eroded trust in education not only among students and parents but also among the general public. This corruption is not merely an issue confined to specific schools.
They cause distrust in the education system as a whole, dampen students’ motivation to study, and threaten the very foundation of our society. Education must be fair above all else. However, the repeated corruption scandals at private schools over the years have seriously undermined the essence of education. The types of corruption that occur at private schools can be broadly divided into three categories.
These include embezzlement of public funds, admissions fraud, and irregularities in teacher appointments. Among these, embezzlement of public funds is primarily carried out by school principals or foundation board members, often through unfair contracts with catering or event companies or the misuse of school operational funds for personal gain. However, the current Private School Act remains riddled with loopholes, rendering institutional oversight ineffective. In the absence of adequate monitoring systems, corrupt practices have become routine, severely undermining the integrity of school operations and leading to the waste of resources that should be allocated to students.
For example, a former principal of a private high school who was dismissed six years ago for embezzling public funds was rehired as an administrative staff member at another school under the same foundation just one and a half years later, then appointed as a middle school teacher, and promoted to vice principal within six months. The current legal framework, which fails to prevent dismissed officials from being rehired as school staff, clearly has significant flaws. While the Private School Act restricts the return of board members to their positions for a certain period, there are no provisions limiting their reappointment as school staff members under the same foundation. This structural flaw is the root cause of similar cases recurring nationwide and urgently highlights the need for revisions to the Private School Act.
The problem is that financial misconduct such as embezzlement of public funds does not directly harm students in a visible way, making it easy for the general public to overlook. However, if such misconduct accumulates, it can lead to insufficient school operating budgets, resulting in students receiving poor-quality meals, living in outdated facilities, and ultimately experiencing a significant decline in the quality of education. As doubts about school transparency grow, trust erodes, which has a negative impact on education as a whole. Therefore, the Private School Act must be revised to strengthen legal sanctions so that individuals involved in embezzlement of public funds are prohibited from being appointed not only to the same foundation but also to schools affiliated with other foundations. At the same time, the practical functions of public oversight bodies must be strengthened to enhance budget management transparency, and a transparent record-keeping and disclosure system must be established for the entire budget execution process.
Next, the most socially controversial issue recently has been college entrance exam corruption. College admissions have long been at the center of Korean education and a highly sensitive topic. The fact that a single test score or a sentence in a student’s academic record can determine the course of one’s life has consistently kept students and parents on edge. However, reports of a teacher leaking exam questions to his own daughters sparked widespread outrage toward the education sector. Many people are asking, “If such things were happening recently, how many more must have occurred in the past?” They cannot hide their distrust of private schools and cynicism toward the education system.
College entrance exam scandals undermine fair competition by providing certain students with advantageous conditions, while inflicting extreme feelings of deprivation and frustration on others. This goes beyond mere misconduct and constitutes a serious issue that distorts the very essence of education. Especially in systems like the student portfolio-based admission process (academic portfolio) or the academic record-based admission process (based on grades), where teachers’ subjective judgments play a significant role, fairness is often called into question.
As a result, repeated admissions fraud at private schools is leading to distrust of the rolling admissions system, and calls for its abolition are growing. This trend could ultimately lead to widespread distrust of the college admissions system as a whole. To resolve this issue, first, institutional measures must be put in place to prevent relatives from working at the same school.
Second, access to exam questions and grade data must be strictly restricted, and a system for recording access must be introduced. Finally, it is urgent to establish an organic cooperation system between parents, teachers, and education authorities, and to put in place institutional measures to ensure fairness. Above all, decisive and effective punishment must be imposed when misconduct is detected.
Teacher appointment irregularities are also a serious problem that plagues the education sector. This is the aspect that angers many prospective teachers who have enrolled in teacher training colleges to become teachers. In particular, the Daegu region is known to have the highest number of cases of teacher hiring corruption in the country, and this is not just a regional issue but is spreading nationwide. Cases where the children or acquaintances of school board chairs, school principals, or school staff are hired as teachers without any competition are a representative example of issues that undermine fairness in the education sector.
Private schools often announce that they will select suitable candidates through document reviews or interviews, but in reality, they often pre-select specific individuals and then announce a formal result stating that “no suitable candidates were found.” In such a system, teachers who are unfairly appointed are likely to lack professionalism and a sense of responsibility, ultimately leading to students receiving a subpar education. Teachers’ morality and qualifications are the core of education. To ensure this, it is essential to expand the委托 hiring of teachers in private schools through provincial education offices. This system is the only way to introduce transparency and objectivity into the teacher hiring process in private schools and prevent corruption and misconduct in advance. Additionally, if corruption is uncovered, strong penalties and institutional follow-up measures to prevent recurrence must be implemented simultaneously.
The fundamental reason why corruption is more prevalent in private schools than in public schools lies in the difference in their operational structures. Private schools are established and operated by private foundations, meaning that decisions regarding teacher appointments, budget execution, and vendor selection are all made according to the will of the board chairman or the foundation. This creates a structural foundation where corruption can occur due to the lack of internal oversight or checks and balances.
Another problem is that an implicit culture of silence and tolerance within schools often prevents corruption from coming to light for a long time. Private schools receive some financial support from the state. Therefore, the state must also have corresponding oversight authority. Budget plans should be subject to prior approval and audit by the state, and teacher hiring procedures should be improved to align with those of public schools. In fact, the Ministry of Education is currently pushing for institutional reforms, such as requiring private schools to post job openings through local education offices and introducing fairness evaluation criteria in the hiring process. This trend is positive and must be established. Ultimately, we must aim for a “trustworthy school” that combines the strengths of private and public schools. Schools are spaces for students, and the essence of education is “fairness.”
We must create a healthy educational environment where students can develop their potential through transparent operations and honest procedures, not one tainted by corruption. To achieve this, educational authorities, schools, parents, and the local community must all take responsibility and work together to bring about change. Even as we speak, there may be cases of corruption in private schools being overlooked somewhere in the country. It is time to root out this corruption from its very foundations. When education stands firm, the nation will stand firm.
