An example of this given on the BBC website was the case of Zhang Yang, who was a studious young man from Anhui Province in China. He was accepted to study at the prestigious traditional medicine college located in Hefai. As Yang rushed home to celebrate this success his father, Zhang Jiasheng, who partly paralysed after a stroke, killed himself by swallowing pesticides. He feared that the family budget could not stretch to pay for the tuition fees.In South Korea and the other richer Asian countries, and the emerging countries in Asia, Asian parents are struggling to ensure they can provide the best education for their children. Some families are even selling their homes to raise the money required to send their children overseas to study.
It’s not just middle class families that have this desire for education. Working class families are also getting themselves into debt to pay for the best eduction experience for their children. Money put aside to pay for health care is being used for education as well.
A recent survey, by Euromonitor, showed that income in China rose by on average 63.3% in the five years up to 2012 but that spending on education rose by a staggering 94% during the same period.
According to the LG Economic Research Institute, 28% of South Korean households cannot afford monthly loan repayments, and are hard pressed to live off their incomes.
Another survey by LG Economic Research shows that in South Korea some 28% of households are struggling to meet their monthly bills while at the same time Asian parents are spending 70% of their income on private education (according to Samsung Economic Research Institute).
Even in the developing China, figures show that 9 out of 10 children attend after school activities (which cost money) in order that the child will progress their educational opportunities. nearly 87% of parents surveyed said they were willing to save in order to allow their children to study abroad.
