By Kim Bo-eun
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) said Wednesday it will launch an intensive investigation into foreign schools in the city to check whether they have violated admissions or accounting rules.
Up until now, the education authority has not supervised foreign schools tightly, allowing them to enjoy high levels of autonomy.
However, the lack of supervision has resulted in manipulation of accounting books and acceptance of unqualified students, officials said.
“We have decided we need to step up inspections as some schools are suspected of having abused their autonomy,” an SMOE official said. “We plan to inspect 20 foreign schools in Seoul by the end of the year.”
There are 21 foreign schools and kindergartens in the city.
The comprehensive inspection came after Dulwich College Seoul was accused of embezzlement and other violations.
Last month, the prosecution indicted three board members of Dulwich on charges of embezzling 7.5 billion won through a paper company set up in Hong Kong.
The education office will look into how the schools process admissions, whether the students are qualified for admissions and whether the number of Korean students is within the regulated quota. It will also scrutinize the schools’ finances in detail.
SMOE will require the schools and kindergartens to submit related documents and examine them, and conduct on-site inspections when necessary.
If it uncovers any admissions fraud, the office will first give an opportunity to the student and school to provide an explanation and then launch a special audit.
If fraud is confirmed, the student will be expelled and the school will receive a correction order.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Education introduced changes to current regulations on foreign schools, banning them from recruiting Korean students when they are caught for admissions fraud four times.
“The inspection is aimed at strengthening supervision on foreign schools’ admissions and finances,” the official said. “If illegality is found, we’ll take due action such as correction orders and audits.”
Foreign schools were set up for foreign residents in Korea as well as Koreans who returned to their home country after living abroad. Korean students can gain admission if they have lived abroad for at least three years.
There are currently 46 foreign schools including three kindergartens across the nation. These schools are favored among wealthy parents, who consider the schools to provide an elite education.