Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Int'l school for multiracial families to be opened next March
By Bahk Eun-ji
Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education announced Monday that it will open an international school next March providing an integrated education for students from multiracial and Korean families.
Gyeonggido Office of Education building /Korea Times file
By Bahk Eun-ji
Tentatively named Gunseo Future International School, the education office said the school would be the country's first public alternative school providing an integrated curriculum with a non-graded system. The Gunseo Middle School building in Siheung will be remodeled to house the new international school.
Students will come from multiracial and Korean families at a one-to-one ratio, and will learn various languages including Korean, English and their mother tongue at each level. In addition, there will be Korean and world history, literature and art classes.
The GOE said the curriculum of the school will be differentiated from other regular schools without grade levels, and with advancement based on credits.
The school will offer six middle school level classes, including two for Chinese, one Russian and three Korean, followed by high school classes in 2022 and elementary school classes in 2024.
Students will be selected through interviews in Siheung and Ansan in Gyeonggi Province.
Lee Jae-joung, superintendent of the GOE, said, “Students from multiracial families will not only understand Korean and have a higher motivation to learn the language, but will also improve their self-esteem in education related to their parent's country.”
He said Korean students at the school will also grow as global citizens with foreign language skills and an international sense through systematic customized language education.
The provincial education office plans to open another international school in 2022.