English Education Reform Likely to Bring Pervasive Effect
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The transition team's plan to reform English education is likely to have a profound impact on the overall education industry as well as the labor market if the basic framework of the proposal remains intact.
The plan is composed of three core pillars of outsourcing 23,000 teachers and retraining new teachers; massive reform in current English class curriculum and building an English-friendly educational environment.
An estimated 4 trillion won is planned to be spent.
Effect of outsourcing plan
The Test of English in English (TEE) is expected to help fluent English-speaking housewives or retirees reenter the workforce as teachers.
These new entrants to the teaching sector will be obligated to get six-months of job training before they are placed in schools and their teaching certificate will be renewed every three to five years.
The TEE program will help women, who have a career vacuum from rearing children, rejoin the labor market, while all of society could benefit from their expertise.
Despite an expected win-win situation, some teachers expressed worries if the short-term training program could have a negative impact on the quality of teachers.
With the outsourcing plan, English teachers will be composed of two separate groups of current teachers and new entrants through the English proficiency test, leaving room for possible tension between the two groups.
Household spending on private education
The team said the dual goal of the reform plan is to cut household spending on private education and upgrade Koreans' overall English skills to a level where high school graduates will have no problem in communicating with foreigners in English.
A group of teachers, however, expressed an opposite view.
A recent survey of the members of an association of nationwide English teachers found that 96.4 percent of respondents said the immersion program would rather increase household spending on private education, instead of cutting it.
The survey showed that the vast majority of these teachers (90.6 percent) oppose the English immersion program.
These teachers' resistance and discontent will test the successful implementation of the reform plan.
International exchange
The plan will make it easy for second or third generation overseas Koreans to come to Korea during their college breaks as it said the government would create teaching jobs for them for which they would likely get academic credit.
English divide in classroom
An English divide in classrooms is another area that would be affected once the key elements of the proposal are introduced.
Many teachers are complaining that the English divide is so profound that they will have a difficult time managing courses.
The team said it plans to make class sizes smaller year by year to help teachers lead classes at the appropriate level.
Partnership between central and local governments
The team also said it would build an English-friendly environment through building English libraries in local communities and expanding extracurricular English programs.
Transition team Chairwoman Lee Kyung-sook made clear the roles of the central and local governments, saying the central government would draw up the big picture, while the local governments and education authorities will be asked to work closely together.