Autonomous int'l schools to open in Incheon, Daegu, Yeosu

New international elementary and secondary schools will be established in three cities outside Seoul to foster globally competitive manpower, officials said Friday.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said that the new schools to be built in the "special zones for international education" of Incheon, Daegu and Yeosu will have independent curriculum unregulated by the education authorities.

In these special zones, schools are free from education laws regulating the normal curriculum and do not have to abide by textbook requirements.

The schools can thereby teach subjects using self-developed work books and materials, as well as foreign textbooks.

However, they are obliged to follow the normal education courses for Korean language, social studies and ethics using government authorized textbooks. For secondary school students, history is also compulsory.

The ministry is also seeking measures to have the new schools hire full-time foreign teaching staff.

In addition, the government plans to designate education colleges within the regions as "teaching-training organizations" to foster Korean teachers who can later teach programs such as the International Baccalaureate. (Yonhap)