The announcement that a Korean had been selected as the new President of Dartmouth College marked the first time a Korean was chosen to be president of an Ivy League College. Not surprisingly, it has created a reaction here. The Chosun Ilbo had an interesting editorial. It is worth reading and provides some insight into the Korean educational system.
Here is some interesting detail about where North Carolina State University is in its consideration of setting up a program in the New Songdo development in Incheon. This link is from a university newspaper and it makes clear that the first step is a Korean-government sponsored feasibility study to consider whether setting up a campus in Korea is a viable option. More on this project as it progresses.
Dear Readers,
For a number of years now, the Korean government has annually published both short and long books containing background and a wealth of statistical detail about Korean education. Although they are shifting over to web based provision of information, they continue to make publications available in pdf format.
One useful document is the brief, but information-packed 2008_brief_statistics_on_korean_education published by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korean Educational Development Institute.
A relatively new web site run by the Korean government, called Study in Korea, is also very useful.
More later on the topic of information sources. We hope these two links are helpful.
According to today’s Joongang Ilbo, the government will set aside 40 billion won ($28.8 million) this year to help establish a global research-education campus within the Incheon free economic zone. The campus is set to open in 2010 in Songdo, about 40 kilometers west of Seoul, and will be composed of between four and 10 local and foreign universities that will pool resources to conduct research and educate students in cutting-edge technologies, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
It said at present, the State University of New York at Stony Brook has agreed to establish a college at the campus, while discussions are underway with several other U.S. Schools. The educational and research focus of the campus will be on information technology and biotech.
Happy New Year (of the Ox)! This blog is still alive and well, and we’ll be posting information more regularly from now on. Yesterday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that Seoul’s public elementary, middle and high school English classes will all be taught in English, starting in 2012. This move, which has sparked considerable public discussion and even controversy over the past year will be implemented under the newly-announced School Managed Innovation of Learning English, or “SMILE” program. An article in The Joongang Daily reports that the Office of Education plans to upgrade English education by
The office hopes these moves will allow students to become fluent in English through classes at public schools, cutting the amount of money spent on private instruction.
We’ll have more to say on this important topic throughout the year. In the meantime, I want to thank those of you who have sent in positive comments regarding this blog. We are considering whether to make the effort to translate it into Korean for the benefit of parents and prospective study-abroad students.
Sincerely,
James F. Larson, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Fulbright Commission
Seoul, Korea
The Korea Times and other local papers highlighted today’s government announcment that it intends to develop a new test that will hopefully replace much of the TOEFL exam volume in South Korea. As announced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, one purpose of the new test is to reduce the amount of money people spend on private cram schools and language institutes. The new test, tentatively named the State English Aptitude Test, will be modeled on Japan’s EIKEN test, which has earned international recognition. ”We believe, as long as we can develop a quality test, many overseas schools will accept it,” said Education Minister Ahn Byoung Man. He further stated that he expects the new test to replace TOEIC and TOEFL in university admissions and job applications. The government will run pilot tests between 2010 and 2011 before formally introducing the new test in 2012.
A report in today’s Korea Times about a recent survey by the National Statistical Office caught my eye. According to a survey of 42,000 people over 15 years old from 20,000 families nationwide, 48.3 percent of those over 30 with children wanted to send them overseas to study. Among the mostly high-paid professionals or office workers, about half wanted overseas education from elementary school level.
The survey also questioned why parents wanted to send their children overseas. A majority responded that they wanted their children to have an international sense of living, but 27.3 percent said they did not like the Korean education system; 16.6 percent wanted their children to learn in a liberal atmosphere; and 13.1 percent wanted them to learn a foreign language easily.
As reported today in the Korea Times, foreign higher-learning institutions are required to have a certain amount of seed money to set up branches in South Korea. A foreign university needs to have 10 billion won to set up a branch here, while a graduate school should have 4 billion won and schools providing two-year master’s programs should have 7 billion won.
The Cabinet approved a ministry plan Tuesday to remove the seed money rule, which has drawn complaints from foreign institutions seeking to enter the Korean market, in a bid to attract more foreign schools. “Foreign institutions don’t have to secure the seed money if they plan branches in free economic zones and on Jeju Island,” a ministry official said. “The removal is in line with the government’s efforts to attract more foreign schools. We plan to offer more benefits to them.”
The government said Sunday it will expand the education budget to develop training programs for English teachers and recruit more native English-speaking teachers. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced Sunday that it will spend a total of 19.5 billion won ($15.9 million) next year, up 12.2 billion won from a year earlier, for English education programs at elementary and secondary schools. As reported by the Korea Times, more than half of English teachers in the country are opposing next year’s planned introduction of “Teaching English in English (TEE)’’ teachers. The government plans to recruit 23,000 TEE teachers, who will conduct classes only in English, over the next five years.
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.