Despite protests, court says hagwon ban is constitutional

A ban preventing hagwon, private educational institutions, from providing classes after 10 p.m. in Seoul and Busan is constitutional, the Constitutional Court ruled Thursday.

The ruling came a year after parents, students, hagwon owners and teachers in the two cities filed a petition in August and October 2008 claiming that “the ban infringes the basic rights of students, parents and private education institution owners.”

They argued that the cities’ ordinances are unfair because other regions in the country allow hagwon to give lessons until midnight.

Five of the nine judges on the court found that the ban was “constitutional,” while four said it was not.

In the ruling, the court said it finds the ban constitutional because restricting hagwon business hours can help students to get more time to rest, normalize public education and reduce the burden on parents who spend huge amounts of money on private education. “Because it’s important to secure sleep for high school students to overcome fatigue and for the sake of their growth, it’s difficult to say that [the ban] excessively restricts basic rights, “ the court said.

In response to parents, students, hagwon teachers and owners who said the ban is unfair, the court said they have to live with it.

By Park Yu-mi, Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr]