Exclusive Taxpayers pay for foreign schools, for what?

The government has made efforts to set up more foreign schools as a means to create an environment friendly to foreign investors. However, these schools’ accounting and other operations have not been supervised by the authorities. This is the third in a series of articles on the way foreign schools are run in Korea. — ED.

Jeju promises too generous benefits

By Kang Shin-who

A large basement parking area is built under the main building of Dulwich College Seoul that opened this month on a site worth $30 million in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government offered the land to the British school almost for free, and Seocho District Office also used 6.5 billion won ($5.6 million) in taxpayer money for the construction of the parking facility.

When the school was allowed to build on land in the district, residents, especially churchgoers there, complained a lot as the site was previously used as a public parking lot.

To appease their complaints, the district office, though it had no obligation to fund the construction of a replacement, picked up the bill to build a parking space under the school.

This is a case showing that not only the central government but also provinces, cities and even district offices are willing to offer tax money, land and other benefits to lure top international schools.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, nearly 50 billion won in taxpayer money had been spent to finance the construction of nine international schools between 2003 and 2009.

However, the actual amount is believed to be much higher, if land and other benefits are reflected.

For example, Yongsan International School of Seoul (YISS) alone received 13 billion won from the ministry and was provided by the Seoul city government with a land worth more than 48 billion won. Gyeonggi-Suwon International School (GSIS) also received 23 billion won from government to build its buildings along with a land worth 10 billion won.

Whether such a huge sum of taxpayer money has served to attract more foreign investors or not is a big question.

But it’s a tall task to answer the question because foreign schools are reluctant to provide key information needed to measure the impact they have had on attracting overseas investment.

A research team, commissioned by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, sought to find how many schools are educating children of foreign investors over the past years, but failed as they refused to provide the team with information.

Still, the research paper found that most of the foreign schools are crowded with “Korean students.”

According to the paper, 34 percent of YISS students were students with foreign citizenship as of last year. GSIS has 107 foreign students and 432 Korean students.

It also said that fewer than 10 percent of the total are foreign students at the Korea International School (KIS).

Lee Eun-je, a ministry official, said, “I also see Seoul already crowded with international schools and we need to focus on helping other cities and provinces to build them.”

However, Seoul City plans to set up more foreign schools. It has recently decided to build a 29.2 billion won five-story school building in Sangam DMC and selected New York-based Dwight School as the preferred negotiator for school operations.

Jeju Island also envisions an ambitious dream of making the nation’s largest island a new hub for English education. It wants to attract students seeking to study overseas.

To that end, it is doing its utmost to bring in international schools, promising unprecedented and exceptional benefits. It is even allowing for-profit schools, meaning foreign institutes can earn money and remit profits overseas.

For foreign school operators, business in the “Jeju Global Education City” are free of risks — they will only gain regardless of their performances thanks to special benefits offered.

The North London Collegiate School (NLCS) became the first to run one of the 12 international schools, scheduled to be opened by 2015 on the island

According to the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, JDC will meet all kinds of financial costs and the NLCS will receive “royalties” from the state-administered corporation.

It is uncertain whether the $1.7-billion education city project will succeed or not, but the British school will remain a winner no matter how the English-language town project will develop.

Jang Tae-young of the JDC education team said that the NLCS will remit the “royalties” back to its home school and offer scholarships to its students in London.

As JDC plans to attract more overseas schools, Korea is expected to pay them greater amounts of “royalties” in the future.

Among international schools with which JDC is negotiating are Branksome Hall in Toronto, St Alban’s School in Washington, D.C., and St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I.

The schools in Jeju will be free from any restrictions of school management in curricula, student recruitment, and finance, as they will be subject to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Law.

효과 검증 없는 지자체들의 퍼주기 경쟁 - 학교 운영 투명화지 않아, 투자 대비 효과 검증 어려워 - 제주도는 외국인 학교 유치 위해 로열티까지 지급

서울시가 300억 상당의 땅을 임대해주는 조건으로 유치한 덜위치 칼리지 외국인 학교 지하에는 65억원을 들인 공용주차장이 들어서 있다. 주차부지로 쓰이던 이곳에 학교가 들어서 주차공간이 부족해졌다는 민원이 제기되자, 서초구청이 이런 불만을 해소시키기 위해 구민돈을 들여 만든 것이다.

이처럼 중앙정부를 비롯해 각 시도 및 지자체들의 외국인 학교 유치를 위한 노력은 각별하다. 지식경제부 자료에 따르면, 외국인 투자 촉진을 위해 2003-09년까지 9개의 외국인학교에 500여 억원의 정부돈이 들어갔다. 하지만 지자체가 제공하는 학교부지와 여러 혜택을 고려한다면 외국인학교 지원에 투자되는 돈은 훨씬 더 늘어난다.

용산국제학교 (YISS)의 경우를 보더라도, 지경부에서 130억 원의 예산 지원과 함께 서울시로부터 480억 상당의 부지가 무상으로 지원되었다. 경기수원외국인학교 역시, 230억 원의 국비 및 도비가 100억 상당의 부지와 함께 제공되었다.

문제는 정부나 지자체들이 이런 지원을 통해 얼마나 많은 외국인 투자를 유치했는지, 즉 투자대비 효과에 대해서는 제대로 파악하지 못하고 있다는 것이다.

지경부는 작년, 외국인 학교 지원 효과를 알아보기 위해 외부 연구팀에 의뢰해 연구보고서를 만들었지만 연구팀은 실질적인 성과, 즉 외국투자 증대 효과는 밝혀내지 못했다. 연구팀의 한 관계자는 “외국인학교들이 학생 신상정보 등 자료협조를 안 해줘 연구에 어려움이 많았다.”고 말했다.

이 연구보고서를 보면, 많은 외국인학교가 한국아이들로 넘치고 있다. 용산국제학교(YISS)의 경우, 작년 총정원의 34%가 순수외국인이고, 경기수원외국인학교는 432명이 내국인, 107명이 순수 외국인이었다. 한국외국인 학교는 순수외국인이 10%이내라고 보고서는 밝히고 있다.

지경부 이은제 사무관은 “서울은 이미 외국인학교 포화상태” 라며 “지방 외국인학교에 더 많은 지원이 필요”하다고 말했다. 하지만 서울시는 향후 두 개의 외국인학교를 추가 설립할 계획이고, 지난달 시가 292억 원을 들이는 상암동 DMC 외국인학교의 우선 협상자로 미국의 드와이트 스쿨(Dwight School)이 선정되었다.

‘로열티 주는 제주도’

‘아시아를 대표하는 교육도시’를 조성하기 위해 노력하고 있는 제주도 의 경우는 외국인학교를 유치하기 위해 ‘로열티’까지 지불하고 있다.

JDC및 국토해양부관계자에 따르면, 제주국제자유도시 개발센터 (JDC)가 계획하고 있는 12개의 국제학교 중 하나를 운영하게 될 영국의 명문 사학 '노스 런던 컬리지잇 스쿨(NLCS)의 경우, JDC가 건축 및 운영비 모두를 부담하고, NLCS는 학교운영의 대가로 로열티를 받게 된다. 이에 따라 NLCS는 영어도시사업의 성패에 관계없이 수익이 생기게 된다.

장태영 JDC 교육팀장은 “NLCS는 로열티를 받아 본국에 있는 학생들에게 더 많은 장학금을 줄 계획으로 알고 있다”고 말했다.

앞으로 JDC가 명문학교 유치를 위해 이 같은 조건으로 계약을 한다면 더 많은 국내자금이 해외로 빠져나가게 된다.

JDC는 캐나다 사립학교인 '브랭섬 홀(Branksome Hall)'과 제주국제학교 설립을 위한 계약을 체결했고, 다른 미국학교들과도 협상을 진행중이다.

제주도에 지어질 국제학교의 경우는 ‘제주특별자치법’에 따라, 재정, 교육과정 및 학생선발 등이 일반 외국인학교와는 달리 자유롭다.