Fulbright U.S. Education Center

The Korea Times reports that education authorities have issued a disciplinary warning to Yongsan International School of Seoul (YISS) for admitting unqualified students. They confirmed an earlier report by The Korea Times (Aug. 25) that the school admitted eight unqualified Korean students who were children of the school’s Korean staff. The students in question have now transferred to other Korean schools.

“We’ve issued a stern warning to the school,’’ said O Nam-bum, an official of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE). “The warning means that if the school accepts unqualified students again, it will face a suspension of operations.’’ Koreans are ineligible to attend the school unless they have lived overseas for more than five years.

There are some 50 foreign schools operating in Korea with about 10,000 enrolled students. Among them, Seoul has 20 and the city plans to build three more by 2012.

There is an interesting report by Reuters today on the rapidly growing use of internet-based services that allow Korean students to talk with native-speakers of English.  The article notes that on any given day, students ranging from kids learning their alphabet to adults preparing for job interviews sign in on their Internet messengers, fire up their webcams and wait for English teachers to appear — from faraway continents.

Web English is one of the fastest growing segments in South Korea’s private English education industry, which is estimated at 15 trillion won ($13 billion) a year — almost half of the country’s annual education budget. About 150 to 200 companies are in the market offering phone and Web English tutoring.  KT Corp, South Korea’s dominant fixed-line and broadband operator, provides a service called “Hello ET” cooperating with a South Korean English education company. Internet portal SK Communications runs “Spicus” which includes a job interview drill on a video-chat platform. Applicants hand out their completed English resume before the drill. An interviewer stages a simulation interview through webcam, looking through resumes, and later provides feedback on logical speaking and communication skills.  In terms of cost, a three-times-a-week Web English course can be covered for about 100,000 won a month. ($1=1151.0 Won)

Reports in both the Korea Times and the Joongang Ilbo recently highlighted the continued growth of South Korea’s private institutes, otherwise known as cram schools.  According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the private education market was worth 20 trillion won last year. Some, however, estimate the market to be as big as 30 trillion won when including institutes for kids and adults. Many private institutes have turned into huge enterprises with nationwide franchises and are preparing to list on the stock market. Some of them are even planning to advance into other Asian markets. 

A number of global private equity funds have invested in the private education market over the last few years. Their investment is expected to hone its competitiveness but concerns are growing that public education at schools might be left behind. The investments show that private education is not about small private cram schools or “hagwon” under careless management anymore ― it has grown into a huge industry. 

The Carlyle Group, for example, invested $20 million in Topia Academy, a private institute specializing in English education; TStone invested 60 billion won in Time Holdings, a cram school; Elim Edu, an essay school, got a $13 million investment from Goldman Sachs; and AIG Investment put $60 million into Avalon, an English language institute.

President Lee Myung-bak administration’s focus on English education is also expected to bolster the private education market.

According to an article in the Korea Times, many South Korean universities are planning to shut down or downsize what they call unpopular departments in a bid to concentrate on sought-after studies and reduce their budget spending.  Konkuk University said Monday it might shut down its European Union Studies and Jewish and Middle East Studies departments from the spring semester after taking into account their poor employment rates and lukewarm response from students.The university will also downsize its Physical and Music Education departments as demand on teachers majoring in such subjects has been falling, while it will establish an English Education Department to meet the soaring demand for English-specialized teachers. Seoul National University, the nation’s No. 1 school, is considering unifying its three out-of-favor departments ㅡ the Department of Asian History, Western History.

In its efforts to become more internationally competitive, South Korea’s government plans to group areas of the nation into seven major economic zones or blocs as indicated in the accompanying graphic (click on the graphic to see a full-sized image).  According to the Korea Times, each bloc will be assigned with one or two leading industries as part of government efforts to promote balanced development and turn the nation into a globally competitive business hub. As part of the overall plan, the government plans to spend 25 trillion won out of state coffers and attract another 25 trillion won from the private sector over the next five years, implementing 30 development projects aimed at expanding roads, railways and other infrastructure, as well as nurturing talented manpower.  The Korea times further notes that “Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province will be transformed into a global business hub, equipped with knowledge-based service industries.  Chungcheong Province will be fostered as Korea’s Silicon Valley and a research and development hub for Northeast Asia. Two other observations come to mind with regard to the regional distribution of leading industries in South Korea.  One is that information and communication technologies (ICT) are a key underlying element for all of these industries.  The fundamental building blocks of the information age will be necessary for success in each and every industry.  Second, it is notable that Gangwon Province is split, with the northern part of the province being in North Korea and the DMZ.  The graphic used here shows only the southern part of the province, which is in South Korea.  In fact, the governor of Gangwon Province recently announced a plan to develop a “Peace Zone” in the present demilitarized zone portion of the province.  As reported in the Korea Times, the governor said that “In the peace zone will be a tourism area connecting the North’s Mt. Geumgang and the South’s Mt. Seorak, an industrial complex like Gaeseong, and a ‘peace city’ on the border which will be a gateway between the two Koreas.”  Governor Kim also said the province has already proposed some of the joint projects to North Korea, where they were welcomed.  ”But such projects will be possible only after the governments of the two Koreas agree to them.”

The Korea Times reports today that Ewha Womans University will open a TESOL graduate school next March to meet the growing demand for English teachers.  Ewha, the oldest and biggest women’s school in Korea, will recruit 40 students at the end of the year and work together with the University of London Institute of Education on dual degree programs. Ehwa President Lee Bae-yong also said she wants to push for globalization projects. Ewha will set up eight more global centers in overseas universities. So far, Ewha has built centers in 12 cities including New York, Beijing, Boston, Tokyo and Hong Kong for networking. With the bases, it aims to send 60 percent of freshmen to sister universities as part of global outreach programs by 2010.