International schools in South Korea will be allowed to increase their admission quota of Korean students to half starting this year under the local government's deregulatory drive, Yonhap News reported quoting the education ministry Wednesday.
At present, the quota of Korean students at 46 foreign schools nationwide is set at 30 percent.
The new quota will take effect next week, as the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday ratified a new law governing the establishment and management of foreign schools in South Korea, said the ministry.
Under the new law, which will replace the existing government directives, all Korean students who have lived abroad for over three years will be eligible to apply for foreign schools in South Korea. Currently, the minimum overseas residence period for the Korean applicants for local foreign schools is set at five years.
The government will also ease regulations on the establishment of foreign schools here, allowing non-profit foreign entities and South Korea's private school foundations to set up foreign schools. At present, only foreigners are permitted to establish foreign schools here.
The new law also obliges the central and provincial governments to lease out land and buildings to foreign school founders.
In addition, the government will ease rules on Korean graduates of foreign schools here by allowing them to directly apply for Korean colleges and universities, as long as they attend Korean language, history and social studies classes for over 102 hours annually. Currently, Korean graduates of foreign schools here are not eligible to enter domestic universities and colleges.
As of last September, about 10,989 students were enrolled at 46 foreign schools nationwide.