教育成本高昂拖累韩国经济发展

Forced to decide between giving her daughter siblings or an expensive education, Hong Sung-ok saw little choice.

当不得不决定是给自己的女儿生个弟弟或妹妹，还是支付昂贵的教育费用时，Hong Sung-ok几乎没有选择的余地。

“I can’t afford not to send my child to private tuition, because everyone else does, says the 47-year-old insurance saleswoman.

这位47岁的女保险销售员表示：“我必须让孩子参加私人补习班，因为其他人都是这样做的。

“I spend more than half my income on tutors and childcare expenses.

“我把超过一半的收入花在了家教和育儿费用上面。

It’s really expensive?.?.?.?That’s why I decided to have only one child.

“费用确实昂贵……这就是我决定只要一个孩子的原因。

Ms Hong’s decision is the new norm in South Korea, where the fertility rate has fallen to the lowest level in the developed world. The country had a birth rate of 1.2 children per woman in 2010: even China, with its long established one-child policy, had a rate of 1.6.

Hong Sung-ok的决定是韩国的一个新风尚。韩国生育率已降至发达世界最低水平。该国2010年的出生率为1.2（每名育龄妇女平均生1.2个孩子），即便在长期实行计划生育政策的中国，出生率也达到了1.6。

The phenomenon has provoked growing consternation at the demographic implications, with South Korea predicted to age more rapidly over the next 40 years than any other country. That could have a damaging impact on productivity and fiscal stability: the ratio of workers to elderly people is on course to fall from 4.5 to 1.2 by 2050, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Paris-based group of countries that tries to promote stable economic growth.

人们对这一现象对于人口结构的影响感到越发恐慌——预计未来40年，韩国人口老龄化速度将超过任何其他国家。这可能会对生产率和财政稳定造成破坏性影响：总部位于巴黎的经合组织(OECD)的数据显示，到2050年，韩国劳动人口相对老龄人口的比例将从4.5下滑至1.2。经合组织的宗旨是促进稳定经济增长。

“Korea is quickly turning into an aged society, says Kwon Young-sun, an analyst at Nomura.

野村证券(Nomura)分析师权荣善(Kwon Young Sun)表示：“韩国正迅速变成一个老龄社会。

Mr Kwon says the low birth rate is linked to a strong cultural emphasis on education: about three-quarters of high-school students have private tuition and a similar proportion go on to university.

权荣善表示，低出生率与韩国文化大力强调教育相关：约四分之三的高中生会上私人补习班，考入大学继续深造的大致也是这个比例。

Parents worry that their children will struggle to find a good job, or even a suitable spouse, without a degree, and the steep associated costs discourage many from having more than one child. Education costs are a big contributor to South Korea’s soaring household debt, one of the heaviest burdens in the world, at more than 160 per cent of income. Household debt is also a big drag on domestic consumption.

父母们担心，如果没有学位，他们的孩子将很难找到一份好工作，甚至连合适的伴侣都找不到。同时，相关费用过高让很多家庭不敢要二胎。教育成本是韩国房贷不断飙升的一项重要原因。韩国的房贷占到收入的逾160%，该国已成为全球房贷负担最重的国家之一。房贷也严重拖累了国内消费。

Park Geun-hye, elected last month as the next president, has promised to tackle the problem by expanding state provision of childcare and halving tuition fees. But critics say the latter measure will only increase the proportion of children going to university, a trend blamed for contributing to graduate unemployment of more than a fifth, as many university leavers hold out for a job befitting their qualifications rather than take an unskilled role.

上月当选韩国下任总统的朴槿惠(Park Geun-Hye)，已承诺通过增加政府育儿投入和减半学费来解决这一问题。但批评者称，后一种措施只会提高高中生就读大学的比例。人们指责这是造成大学毕业生失业率超过五分之一的原因，因为很多毕业生坚持寻找一份与学历相匹配的工作，而不愿从事无需专业技能的工作。

The government has tried to weaken the perception of university education as a prerequisite for success. It put pressure on big companies to hire more non-graduates and opened 21 “Meister high schools, where pupils are given technical training for specific fields such as shipbuilding and semiconductor manufacturing.

韩国政府一直试图弱化“上大学是成功先决条件的观念。它向大公司施压，要求它们聘用更多没上过大学的人，并开设了21所专业化高中(Meister High School)，对学生们实施船舶制造和半导体制造等具体领域的技术培训。

But even optimists admit it will take years to change perceptions: a government study two years ago found that 93 per cent of parents expect their children to attain at least a four-year university degree.

然而，甚至连乐观主义者也承认，要改变上述观念将耗时多年：两年前的一项政府调查发现，有93%的父母希望子女起码要拿下一个4年制大学学位。

“It’s a very competitive society – sometimes too competitive, says Lee Jong-wha, an economics adviser to Lee Myung-bak, the departing -president.

即将离任的韩国总统李明博(Lee Myung-bak)的经济顾问李钟和(Jong-Wha Lee)表示：“这是一个竞争非常激烈的社会，有时会过于激烈。

Up to secondary school level, South Korea’s education system is world-leading: its 15-year-olds came first in the developed world in literacy and maths, and third in science, in a 2010 study by the OECD. But the same body warns that the proliferation of universities resulting from surging demand has “inevitably led to some deterioration in the quality of Korea’s tertiary sector, which does not score high in international rankings.

在初中水平以下，韩国的教育体系在全球居领先地位：在经合组织2010年的调查中，韩国15岁儿童在识字和数学方面位居发达世界第一，在科学方面位居第三。但该组织警告称，由于需求飙升造成大学数量增多的现象，“不可避免地造成了韩国高等教育质量一定程度的恶化，韩国在国际高等教育质量排行榜中名次并不靠前。

The OECD recommends that the state concentrate public funding on the highest-ranked universities. But according to Mr Lee, who will soon return to a position in academia, a broader change of approach is needed.

经合组织建议，韩国政府应把公共资金集中投向排名脚靠前的大学。但即将重返学术领域的李钟和表示，韩国需要一场宏观的路径变革。

“If you attend classes here, there’s virtually no discussion at all, he says.

他表示：“如果你来这里上课，就会发现课堂上根本没有任何讨论。

“The professor speaks for 99 per cent of the time and there’s no question-and-answer. I’m not saying we need to switch to a western education system – ours continues to produce good-quality students – but as our wider industry structure becomes more innovative and technology-focused, it requires graduates with creative ability.

“教授的讲课占用了99%的时间，没有疑难解答环节。我并不是说，我们需要转向西方教育体系，我们的教育体系仍在培养着高素质的学生。但随着宏观行业结构变得更注重创新和技术，这就要我们的毕业生具备创造能力。

Beyond the economic concerns, some worry that young people are being burdened with excessive expectations and spending too much of their childhood in the classroom.

除了经济负担，有些人还担心，年轻人背负了太多的期望，他们把太多的童年时光花在了教室里。

“Students at all levels are suffering from stress, says Lee Young-tak, an official at the Korean Teachers’ Union.

韩国教职员工会(Korean Teachers’ Union)官员Lee Young-tak表示：“各个年级的学生都感到有压力。

“The system puts too much emphasis on college admission and it does not nurture students’ talents.

“这一体系过于注重考大学，忽视了学生才能的培养。

Additional reporting by Jung Gu-hun

英国《金融时报》Jung Gu-hun补充报道