By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The Junggu District is located in the center of Seoul and has been long known for the mixture of its long history and modernity.
But the district may soon develop another image for programs, facilities and an environments for good English education.
``We've been talking to residents to hear what they need,'' said Han Soo-kyung, the manager of the education support division at the district office. ``Most parents are concerned about English education for their kids, and we decided to do something for them.''
The district council has already applied to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development for the area to be designated an ``English Education Special Zone."
The designation is expected to offer a better English education for students with central government subsidies, tax reduction and less regulations on hiring native English-speakers.
About 2.4 billion won of a total of 3.9 billion won in the education budget is invested in English.
The district opened an English center with 350 million won.
The center was launched after the district renovated empty classes at Kwanghee Elementary School where students there can join various English classes. Currently, six native-English speaker instructors and six Korean teachers work there.
The district council also offers English programs in association with nearby universities including Dongguk University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and has sent native-English speaking teachers to every public school in the district.
The project for English education was first launched when Jeung Dong-il was elected as head of the district office in July 2006, as it was one of his campaign promises to residents.
``We're still at the beginning stage with a long way to go; making trials and errors. But in the long term, I'm sure the district will create an English-education friendly environment,'' Han said.
So far, the efforts by the district have been welcomed by parents, who suffered stress in finding decent English education for their children. They had been spending a considerable amount of money every month but failed to get satisfactory results.
Park Sang-mi, a 36-old mother of two elementary school students, was one of them.
She used to spend 300,000 won a month on English education for her children, excluding expenses on other school subjects. She sent them to a private English academy, hired an English tutor and subscribed to monthly education books. The financial burden was huge, but the real problem was that her children were losing interest in English.
But after sending her children to an English camp organized by the district, she realized that the solution to help kids learn English and reduce the burden of parents should be sought by parents, schools and the district council together.
``I could save some money, and well-organized programs helped our kids get interested in English,'' Park said. ``The (central) government has merely emphasized the importance of education at school without proper action, but we need more tangible action.''