By Kang Shin-who
International schools in Korea are dominated by U.S-style ones, troubling expatriates and diplomats from European countries in finding school for their children. This was why European community complained when U.S. institute was selected as a runner of the state-funded Yongsan International School, which was open in 2006.
From this backdrop, chief of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry stressed schools from European continent countries are supported by government with great financial aids, while American schools are commercial purposed.
“German government is spending a lot of money as well as French ones and they are not for commercial purposes, very different from American schools,” Jurgen Wohler, executive director of the chamber said in an interview with The Korea Times.
He also mentioned that Yongsan school, which has been taken by American organization, shoulder foreign parents here financial burdens. Business groups see education of children is the most important when foreign investors consider adventure to Korea.
The Germany chief of the chamber said that he wants Korea to take good examples from European schools. Currently, there are two German education institutes; the International German School in Seoul and the Friedrich Alexander University (FAU) of Eerlangen-Nuremberg, which recently opened in the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone.
Wohler also said German education is more fit to Korean schools. “Korea is a small country and highly depending on exports. Korea needs school system, which is as diverse as possible and look for system of European schools not U.S., which relies little on exports.
The executive director, who is married to Korean wife, majored in law and economics as well as politics. “I studied in many different countries and some ideas (about education),” he said.
Regarding Korean education, Wohler stressed that students should learn for life not for grade. “(Korean) students are so fixed for performances and they are only judged by their final grades not personality. European schools focus on creativity, skills and character-building.”
He also commented on Korean government’s policy on foreign schools here. “The government is afraid that foreign schools are only for children from rich (families), but it is non-sense because of hagwon culture, adding that rich children have advantages through the private institutes.”
“It is different in German schools. Students don’t prepare for tomorrow’s lessons and encouraged to do only one-hour homework and learn together and discuss over topics.
“Korea is focusing on too much memorizing facts, neglecting to develop creativity of young people and self-organization as well as abilities to combine different things. This is because they are so focused on test, they don’t want to understand and just look for answers for questions,” he said.
Lastly, he said Korean human resources are overqualified and in that sense, education is a waste for them, which also costs a large amount of money. “Everybody in Korea has to go to university and in Germany, hagwon is only for bad students and those who are behind,” he said.