By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Yongsan International School of Seoul (YISS), the biggest international school here, has accepted unqualified children of Korean administrators working at the school as students.
``The school has admitted 8-10 Korean students who didn’t meet admission requirements. They are children of the school’s Korean staff,’’ a source said Monday. These students have also been exempted from tuition fees ― about $20,000 annually, the source added.
YISS said that it allowed some questionable admissions previously, though the children were no longer listed as students.
``All of the students currently enrolled at YISS meet eligibility requirements. Anyone who may have been in question has not been permitted to reenroll,’’ said Jin Park, community relations director of the school, in a statement faxed to The Korea Times.
Under education rules, foreign passport holders can apply to international schools. In the case of Korean nationals, they should have foreign green cards or have stayed overseas more than five years.
The state-of-the-art school complex was built in 2006 to help attract foreign investment and improve living conditions of foreigners with funds from the central and Seoul City governments along with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Jeff Pinnow has been heading the school since its inception.
``The school was established for children of foreign investors with state support, so it should be free from any irregularities,’’ said Kang Ho-min, secretary general of the school foundation. ``We are responsible for the transparency of school management. If there is any irregularity (at the school), we can take appropriate action,’’ he added.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education also plans to investigate whether the school violated rules. ``YISS received a large amount of funds from the Korean government and it should not be involved in any illegal practices,’’ said a senior official of the education office, asking not to be named. ``We are going to investigate the school.’’
According to sources, a number of schools enroll students in violation of rules, taking advantage of growing demand from Korean parents who want their children to attend international schools. The Korean authorities do not regulate the schools, as they fear any tighter scrutiny could be seen as steps against foreign investment.
The violation of rules by YISS is a case in point that the education authority should closely monitor these international schools instead of moving to establish more, according to the sources.
Located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, YISS has more than 700 students from kindergarten through grade 12. According to the city education office, the school reported that it has 276 Koreans, 40 percent of the total students, as of June. Among them, 54 stayed more than five years overseas, 28 Koreans have green cards, three children have fathers or mothers who are foreign nationals and the rest have dual nationality, the report said.
Seoul City has provided a free lease on the 23,100 square meters of land, valued at some 50 billion won ($50 million) in 2005, for 50 years and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy funded 13 billion won, the largest amount given to any international school. KCCI also financed the rest of construction costs, about 20 billion won, on behalf of the school.
Korea Foreign Schools Foundation selected the International Christian School (ICS) as the operator of the school in 2006. ICS is running three schools in Korea including YISS, another in Uijongbu and one in Pyongtaek, both in Gyeonggi Province.