Rules eased to attract more foreign students

By Park Si-soo

The government will drastically ease regulations to attract more foreign schools and global talent, aiming to draw more than 100,000 exchange students by 2012.

To appeal to overseas students, the government will lower health insurance premiums for students from abroad, which they are mandated to pay while here and make the immigration procedure simpler.

Education Minister Ahn Byung-man Wednesday unveiled a package of measures aimed at establishing a foreigner-friendly schooling system.

The came one week after the ministry submitted a bill designed to make it easier for domestic universities to open overseas branches to the National Assembly, which will take effect as early as January next year.

The latest measures are part of the government’s efforts to boost the nation’s international competitiveness by reducing regulations that have restricted foreign schools from opening campuses here, overseas recruiting campaigns by Korean schools and their campus expansion plans in other countries.

To attain the goal of attracting 100,000 foreign students by 2012, the ministry plans to lower the monthly health insurance premium to 36,000 won ($30.5) from the current 70,000 won. Those enrolled at schools acknowledged for good management of their inbound students will be exempted from the cumbersome paper-screening to renew or extend their visa.

Those who complete a pre-school language training course before the regular semester begins will be allowed to stay in Korea during that time. Under the current rules, foreign students have to leave the country during the breaks.

As of last year, 75,850 foreign students were enrolled at Korean universities with Chinese nationals accounting for 70.5 percent of them, a state statistics showed.

The ministry will also give more autonomy for the management of foreign schools when it comes to campus construction and teacher recruiting.

Among the Korean universities seeking to expand overseas are Dongkuk University (to Los Angeles), Soongsil University (to Vietnam) and Hongik University (to Los Angeles).

외국인 학생 유치 위해 규제 완화

정부가 2012년까지 100,000명의 외국인 교환학생을 유치할 목적으로 외국인 학생들을 대상으로 건강보험 비용을 낮추는 등 관련 규제를 대폭 완화할 예정이다.

교육부 안병만 장관은 수요일 외국인 친화적인 학교제도를 구축하기 위한 방안을 발표했다. 교육부는 지난 주 국내 대학들의 해외 캠퍼스 확장을 돕는 법안을 국회에 제출한 바 있다.

이 같은 목표달성을 위해 외국학생 건강보험 납부액을 월 70,000원 에서 36,000원으로 낮아진다. 학생관리가 잘 돼있는 학교에 등록되어있는 학생들은 비자를 갱신하거나 연장할 때 서류심사를 면제해 줄계획이다.

작년 현재 75,850명의 외국학생(중국인 70.5%)이 국내 대학에 등록되어 있다. 교육부는 외국 학교의 캠퍼스 건축이나 교사임용 등에 관해서는 자율성을 보다 더 부여하기로 했다. 해외 확장을 계획하는 학교로는 동국대(L.A.)와 숭실대(베트남) 그리고 홍익대(L.A.)가 있다.