Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Fun with Statistics - Ms. Choi's Schooling Costs

Me thinks Ms. Choi is lying:

Late last year, a 46-year-old Korean housewife in Bundang, south of Seoul, started working as a teacher at a local private cram school. But the woman, who only revealed her surname, Choi, did not take the work out of choice: It was, she said, the only way she could afford the school fees and living costs for her 16-year-old son, who has been studying in the United States for the past two years. "On my husband's salary alone, we can't afford my son's school fees and living costs, which come to four to five million won ($5,230) a month," Ms. Choi said.

Schooling her son costs US$60,000 a year? Thats more that the US's GDP per capita! Even if you add average private school fees, the amount is unexplainable. Mater Dei, a selective catholic school around where I lived in LA, only charges about US$9,000 for the entire year.

Something fishy is going on with Ms. Choi.

1 Comments:

At September 29, 2006 8:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The fees probably go through some intermediary businessman, who takes a hefty commission every month. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

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