English schools on Jeju 'only for the super-rich'

Branksome Hall Asia / Courtesy of Branksome Hall Asia

By Chyung Eun-ju

International schools in Jeju Island’s English town campus are being accused of catering only for children from better-off families.

The 1.78 trillion won ($1.51 billion) education project called “Jeju Global Education City,” operated by Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC), started with the mission of providing an alternative to sending Korean students abroad.

According to Rep. Lee Won-wook of the Democratic Party of Korea, the tuition and dormitory fee for the international schools in JDC is around 50 million won.

Two international foreign schools in the English town are under criticism ― North London Collegiate School (NLCS) and Branksome Hall Asia (BHA).

NLCS charges a tuition fee of around 26.5 million to 37.2 million won plus a dormitory fee of 12.9 million to 15.2 million won (the price differs based on grade).

North London Collegiate School / Courtesy of North London Collegiate School

“The yearly tuition and dormitory fee shows that the schools are for the super-rich children,” Lee said.

“The English town campus project was to provide a foreign education system in Korea to develop future leaders and prevent the outflow of foreign currency. However, the increasingly high tuition fee contradicts the original mission of the project.”

Lee called for education equity and urged the schools to improve their scholarship policies.

Branksome Hall Asia dormitory / Courtesy of Branksome Hall Asia

During the school term of 2017 to 2018, only one out of 1,276 students enrolled in NLCS received a scholarship and, out of 863 students in BHA, only five received a scholarship.Only a few students receive scholarships of which there are two types ― one for those who achieve academic excellence, and another to support tuition fee for those from less-privileged families.

“The two schools are operating despite a shortage of students,” Lee said. “JDC should do more to include more low-income families.”

The National Assembly Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee is calling for a parliamentary audit of JDC to assess whether the organization has the capability to run operations.

Rep. Joo Seung-yong from the People’s Party on Monday criticized two JDC projects ― the Myths and History Theme Park and a resort-type residential complex.

“JDC’s main businesses are going a different direction from its purpose and the reports submitted each year are different,” Rep. Joo said.

JDC has four other core projects: Jeju Science Park, Jeju Healthcare Town, Seogwipo Tourism Port, and Jeju Global Education City.