More Local Kids Enroll in Chinese Schools Here
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
More and more Korean students are enrolling in Chinese schools here for relatively affordable tuition (for international schools) and opportunities to learn Chinese.
The number of students enrolling rose to 2,500 this year from 2,300 a year earlier against dwindling figures for Chinese schoolchildren, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Korea has about 20 Chinese schools across the country, and many parents are sending their children to them so they can learn the language.
``My child can learn Chinese at a relatively cheap cost here. I am 100 percent satisfied with this Chinese school,'' said the mother of a six-year-old girl attending Busan Chinese Primary School in Chorayng-dong in the nation's biggest port city.
Another father of a child attending the school said his seven-year-old son would study at the Chinese school until fourth or fifth grade before transferring to a Korean school. ``We can save one year, as Chinese schools enroll children one year earlier than Korean schools and tuition is cheap,'' he said.
Chinese schools normally charge 900,000 won ($640) per three months for high school students, 800,000 won for middle school students and 600,000 won for elementary students. In addition, Korean universities will be able to acknowledge diplomas from the schools from next year.
Hence, more Korean parents are expected to consider the schools for their children's education. To date, graduates of non-Korean schools have had to take state-run exams in order to gain certificates of high school graduation if they wanted to apply to Korean universities.
Internet cafes are also crowded with many parents who are interested in Chinese schools. A portal site, Daum's cafe, ``Chineseschoolinfo,'' with some 1,500 members, shows many inquiries asking information about them.
Breach of Rules
However, the parents of most Korean children attending the schools are in violation of regulations. Under the Education Law, Korean students applying to the schools are required to have foreign residence cards or overseas stays of longer than three years. Furthermore, the maximum quota for Korean nationals is set at 30 percent of the total number of students.
Principals and parents at Chinese schools say more than half of students are Korean nationals and many don't meet the requirements for admission.
Asked about admission criteria, the largest Chinese school in Incheon said any Korean children, regardless of whether they have foreign residence cards or more than three-years overseas, can apply to the school.
``As far as I know, Koreans account for more than 80 percent of the total of students at most Chinese schools in the provinces,'' said a principal of one school in Busan.
A government official said it was a breach of rules and each regional education authority would be directed to supervise the schools regarding admission wrongdoings once the new law on foreign schools takes effect either late this month or early next year.