Multilingual subtitle service added to education website
Captured screen shot from the online platform “Parents Onnuri,” provided by the Ministry of Education. Courtesy of MInistry of Education/2019-03-31(코리아타임스)
By Bahk Eun-ji
The Ministry of Education said Sunday it has started offering subtitle services in five foreign languages at its online education portal site for migrant parents who are not proficient in Korean, amid an increasing number of multicultural families here.
The five are English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Russian and it is also available in Korean.
The online platform “Parents Onnuri” (
) has been providing a number of services for parents, including general information about school education as well as information about government policy and online education programs for parents, since 2011. It is also provided via mobile application.
Thirty-four education programs are categorized into five sections ― education for parents, career guidance, education policy, cultivation of creativity and personal development.
The ministry has introduced the multi-language subtitle services for six out of 34 in advance with a plan to expand it to more programs. The six are sex education for parents and children to prevent sexual abuse, relationship skills with children, understanding career education based on children's creativity, understanding of “innovation schools,” understanding of new educational policies, and how to improve children's sense of self-respect through painting.
“The translation service is mainly for multicultural families. Currently it only provides five foreign languages which are highly sought after by those families, but more languages will be available soon,” said Jung In-soon, a director of the ministry's School Innovation Policy Bureau. “Korean captions are also available for those parents who have a hearing disability.”
Also, the ministry allows parents to use the portal without signing up for its membership after it was criticized for its complicated sign-up process for foreign parents. Through its mobile app, educational materials and electronic books are also available.
For those users who are interested, the portal offers real-time video streaming services of education policy briefing sessions by the ministry.