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Staff Reporter
The Association for Teachers of English (ATEK), a group representing native English language teachers elected Greg Dolezal, 34, as its president at an elementary school in Gimhae, near Busan, in South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday.
But its first elected head faces a mountain of tall orders ranging from image problems to the lack of representative power.
Above all, reports of misbehavior by some English teachers are among the first things Dolezal has to address.
"There are many foreign instructors who are leading disorderly lives involving sex and drugs, although the foreign group is denying it," said Lee Eun-ung, founder of the Citizens' Association for Lawful English Education, a group dedicated to mounting surveillance on foreign English teachers. "Without accepting the facts, they will never succeed in removing their bad image."
Also looming at the top of his priorities' list is a lack of membership. Many teachers remain outside the organization, waiting to see how it will afre.
ATEK says it has attracted nearly 1,000 members across the country and has prompted the formation of seven local teachers' chapters. However, that number accounts for less than five percent of the total E-2 or English teaching visa holders, which is over 20,000. This is why the new president is vowing to increase its membership.
Still many foreign English instructors don't acknowledge ATEK as a group representing them. "They do not represent teachers and their actions are solely their own personal agendas and do not reflect the mood or desires of the general populace of foreign speakers," said a foreign English teacher who asked to be identified as David in an email to The Korea Times.
In addition, education authorities have not recognized ATEK as an official partner.
"I have not heard about the association before and it has never contacted us over any English education issues," said an official in charge of native English speakers at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, Dolezal says he is quite optimistic about the hurdles ahead. "I'm excited to continue serving English teachers in my new role as president," said Dolezal, who served as a communications director of the association. "This first year is critical to our organization's ability to grow and be successful in the future. My goal is to create lasting partnerships with the government and other national organizations," he was quoted as saying in a news release.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
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