School changing lunch menu for Muslim students

By Kim Se-jeong

Sixteen students at Wongok Elementary School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, have different lunch menus, sometimes.

As Muslims, these students don't eat pork and other meats that were slaughtered without a religious ritual. When the meal has any meat, the students receive tofu or other food containing protein as an alternative.

“Students wanted (an alternative). So did parents. We wanted to accommodate their request,” the school Principal, Seo Min-hyeo, said as to how the alternative lunch menu came about. Seo said some parents still complain their children don’t get halal meat, a term for meat slaughtered after the Islamic ritual. She explained her school has a tight budget and can’t provide what the parents requested.

Sixteen are among 350 students with different cultural backgrounds at Wongok. Seventeen different countries are represented at the school. A total number of students attending the elementary school is 442. Among 350, 245 have Chinese background.

The school also offers Chinese language courses. “This is to meet the demand from a large portion of Chinese-Korean students,” the principal said. The classes are offered to is open to third grades and older.

Despite complaints, the school’s initiative is well regarded as a positive step. Wongok is almost the only school in the country doing these. Part of it is because the school is in Ansan where the population of immigrants and migrant workers is the highest. Nationwide, the interracial family population is almost 800,000. Many hope other schools will follow the suit of Wongok.

Experts say Wongok's experience shows the future for schools in Korea.

The Korean society is expected to become more diverse. Estimates predict that by 2050, the number of interracial family population will reach 1 million.

The Wongok's experience can also offer an example for the government, which has dealt with policies for the interracial families for almost a decade. skim@ktimes.co.kr

The policies often drew criticism that they failed to make recipients feel respected.