Exclusive bfont color=d74600/font/b Should Int’l Schools Teach Korean History, Language?
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Foreign schools in Korea say it will be difficult to add the 102-hour mandatory Korean language and history classes to their current curriculum which they need to have their records acknowledged at Korean institutions.
As a result, no foreign school has applied for the academic recognition program the Ministry of Education, Science and Education introduced last January.
Under the program, students at international schools here can have their school records accredited at Korean schools if they undergo the 102-hour compulsory classes. Once the academic records are certified, they can apply for enrollment at Korean elementary, middle and high schools as well as universities.
It was introduced to give more opportunities to foreign school students, diversify the education environment, and help foreign schools earn academic certificates.
Foreign schools complained that they had not been consulted before the rule was instituted and it is unrealistic to expect them to add more courses to their existing curriculum.
``We have our own curriculum to earn international education certificates and there is no room for 102 hours of Korean language and history classes,'' said Choi Jae-seung, president of the association of international schools. ``If the government really wants to diversify the educational environment, it should have consulted with us.''
Foreign nationals without proficiency in Korean are able to apply to Korean universities under specific non-citizen statuses. However, Korean nationals and certain foreigners who attend international schools are unable to qualify for the same category. They need to take state-run academic certification tests if they want to advance to secondary schools and universities in Korea.
In other words, students of international schools are unable to apply for local schools, including universities, as their credits are not recognized. Therefore, the majority of graduates go abroad to attend school.
Chinese schools that once filed a petition with the human rights agency over the issue said that their elementary schools cannot afford to introduce the Korean language and history classes.
``We have difficulties even in securing hours for Chinese and English language classes. It is impossible for our primary school to set up classes for Korean language and history,'' said Lee Yoo-in, principal of the Chinese school in Busan. Small schools in particular have trouble with the new standard, due to financial difficulties and a lack of adequate staff.
With a petition in 2004, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea concluded in September 2006 it is discriminative that the government doesn't recognize curricula of Chinese schools and infringes on their rights to pursue happiness. The government agency advised the ministry to introduce measures for the schools to gain academic certificates from education authorities.
``If the measures, after being advised to revise a regulation, are still unrealistic or unreasonable, they will still be discriminatory," said Shin Byong-gon, official of the agency.
Lee Kyeong-lim, deputy director of the ministry and international school liaison, could not answer in detail as to how the policy was finalized. About 11,000 Korean and foreign students are attending 46 foreign schools across the nation.