Kim Kyung-taeg Chairman and CEO of Jeju Free International City Development Center |
 By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Tens of thousands of Korean children are studying English overseas. Jeju Island seeks to attract these children to a new English town to be built on the island.
The first ever English education ``city" is now under construction in Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si, a project to be completed by 2013 at an estimated cost of 785 billion won.
This is part of a series of massive development projects initiated by the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) to transform the island into a global business and education hub.
The English-only city, being constructed in southwestern Jeju, will be able to accommodate 9,000 students and teachers and will have 12 elementary and secondary schools, English education centers and foreign education institutes. Nearly 10,000 apartments will also be constructed in the city along with welfare facilities such as a gym and theater for the convenience of students and parents.
In the initial stage, it plans to open a primary and secondary school in March 2011 as a pilot project.
The idea of creating the town came as a means to domestically attract teenagers going abroad to lean the foreign language.
``More than 50,000 Korean children leave for English-speaking countries annually and nearly five trillion won is consumed for their English education. This town will help reduce the spending and let children learn English without living apart from their family, which has caused many social problems,'' said Park Chul-hee, a JDC official in charge of the project.
The town will introduce not only a Korea based curriculum but also ones for other countries such as the United States.
``Basically, for those choosing overseas curricula it will be the same as that in English-speaking countries,'' Park said.
To form an ideal English-immersion environment, the project operator is considering inviting retired teachers from English-speaking countries or running teacher exchange programs.
To attract renowned foreign education institutes, the local government has also eased regulations to help foreign investors take benefits generated here out of the country.
``Many foreign institutes hesitate to invest in the city mainly due to the regulation banning them from taking profits generated here out of the country,'' the official said.
The JDC staff said two renowned U.K.-based schools ㅡ North London Collegiate School and King's College ㅡ are considering establishing overseas campuses in the special town.
Parents and students showed positive responses to the project.
According to JDC, a survey showed that 45,000 teenagers responded that they would enroll in English-only schools in the city rather than schools overseas.
Asked about tuition fees, the official said, ``It's still undecided how much we will charge. But it will be cheaper than those charged by overseas schools.''
The JDC staff, who believe the English education market in Korea is still expanding, said once the experimental town successfully takes root, it will run overseas promotions to attract foreign students from non-English speaking countries.
``We believe the town will serve as an essential and strong growth engine that will lead balanced national development, a pivotal move to transform Jeju into an international city,'' he said.
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