Seoul to provide free Web-based English lessons

By Na Jeong-ju

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) plans to launch a website to provide free English lectures to elementary and middle school students beginning in September, SMOE officials said Tuesday.

Through the service, the office aims to cut household spending on private English education and give opportunities to children from low-income families to study the language, they said.

The plan is in line with SMOE chief Kwak No-hyun’s pledge to ensure equal learning opportunities for all children, regardless of whether their parents are rich or poor.

“English proficiency has become more important in entering a good college and getting a good job. However, most children can’t learn at private institutes as tuition is too expensive,” a spokesman said.

“We hope the Web-based lessons, which will be given by selected teachers as well as popular lecturers from private academies, will be helpful in addressing the ‘English education divide’ between rich and poor.”

The service will be provided based on two-way communication between lecturers and students. While giving lectures, teachers can get questions or suggestions from students.

The education office has set aside some 150 million won ($140,000) for this year’s service.

The trial service will begin as early as next month for students from six elementary schools and five middle schools in the capital. The lectures will be available for all students early next year, according to the office.

Kwak has repeatedly said the establishment of an Internet-based teaching system that is accessible to all students will reduce the financial burden of private education.

Some educators, however, questioned the effects of such lessons, saying there are already many existing Web-based lessons provided by private institutes.

“We need to build a system so that students can learn English without the help of private institutes,” Kwak recently told reporters. “To make this service successful, it’s important to make lessons fun and to better communicate with students.”

According to the office, the collective household burden of private English tutoring for elementary and middle school students is estimated at 3 trillion won.

Some students pay more than 300,000 won ($280) a year to receive Internet-based English lessons provided by private institutes.