[Anchor]

These days, the entrance exam for English kindergartens is referred to as the '4-year-old exam.'

To prepare for this difficult '4-year-old exam,' young children are attending private academies, raising concerns about their emotional development.

In response, a so-called 'English Kindergarten Ban Law' is being proposed to limit English instruction for young children.

Go Ah-reum reports exclusively.

[Report]

This is a private academy preparing for the entrance exam for English kindergartens, known as the '4-year-old exam.'

A large banner announcing the pass rates is displayed.

In the Daechi-dong area of Seoul, there are dozens of academies preparing for English kindergarten admissions.

[OO Language Academy Official/Voice Altered: "If they were born in 2022, they are 4 years old. We have phonics, speaking, and writing classes... Currently, there are no spots available in the writing class."]

As of May, there are 820 English kindergartens nationwide, with an average daily instruction time of 5 hours.

Excessive advance learning and exam preparation stress are known to negatively impact the brain development and emotional formation of young children.

[Um So-yong/Research Professor, Yonsei University College of Medicine: "(For young children), English is not included in the priority developmental tasks. It is known that emotional development and social development should be prioritized, but they are being forced to learn English instead..."]

Amid this, the so-called 'English Kindergarten Ban Law' that limits the instruction time for young children will be proposed this week.

This bill includes a complete ban on teaching activities related to subjects like English for children under 36 months.

For preschool children over 36 months, the instruction time will be limited to 40 minutes per day.

[Kang Kyung-sook/Member of the Education Committee/Rebuilding Korea Party: "I believe the state has to intervene because it has reached a level that cannot be ignored. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has also looked into our country's private education and found it to be 'excessive and concerning...'"]

Violating this law will result in administrative penalties such as suspension of instruction for less than a year or cancellation of academy registration.

If actual enforcement occurs, backlash from parents is also expected.

This is KBS News' Go Ah-reum.

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