Foreign schools in Korea say it will be difficult to add the 102-hour mandatory Korean language and history classes to their current curriculum which they need to have their records acknowledged at Korean institutions.
As a result, no foreign school has applied for the academic recognition program the Ministry of Education, Science and Education introduced last January.
Under the program, students at international schools here can have their school records accredited at Korean schools if they undergo the 102-hour compulsory classes. Once the academic records are certified, they can apply for enrollment at Korean elementary, middle and high schools as well as universities.
I didn't pay any attention to this article when it came out, but a thread on ExpatKorea highlights some interesting points. For instance:
Foreign nationals without proficiency in Korean are able to apply to Korean universities under specific non-citizen statuses. However, Korean nationals and certain foreigners who attend international schools are unable to qualify for the same category. They need to take state-run academic certification tests if they want to advance to secondary schools and universities in Korea.
In other words, students of international schools are unable to apply for local schools, including universities, as their credits are not recognized. Therefore, the majority of graduates go abroad to attend school.
I never knew that about international schools here, but then again I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since these schools aren't set up for Koreans or for those who plan to spend their whole scholastic career in Korea. Wait . . . rawley brings up a good point:
The problem is that the Education ministry knows that the schools have lots of Korean children in the schools also, which means there are lots of children missing the brainwashing that the regular schools give.
Well, the best point is the first part of his post. There has been a lot of talk about international schools in the news, and there is a new quota that says only 30% of students can be Korean. Anecdotal evidence tells me that number can be much higher. We've read news about Koreans buying residency in foreign countries, or having their kids adopted by American military families in order to qualify for international schools---an indictment as much of faith in local public schools as much as it is of shitty parents---though a new law last fall said that only students who have lived abroad for more than three years will be eligible for Korean international schools.
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Korean parents sending their children to international schools owes more to Korean university admissions criteria than to a lack of quality education in Korean K-12 schools. Students who apply as pyeongipsaeng (special admission students, including foreign students and Koreans meeting overseas education requirements) face less competition for alloted slots and thus have lower admissions requirements although this is changing as more and more Koreans head overseas or to international schools to beat the system. Sure, Koreans complain about relearning what they already learned at hagwons and of teacher-centered instruction, but its the admissions criteria more than the actual learning itself that drives Korean parents to make choices.
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