The Establishment of an International High School in Economic Special Zone

In the second half of this year, an international high school that opens to foreign and domestic students will be established in the economic special zone that includes Songdo New City, Kimpo, Youngjongdo, etc. The regulation on the establishment and management of international school will be relaxed, so international school can be established any where in the country.

In 14th of July, Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) announced the education policy related to the government plan ‘ The Realization of the Pivot Nation for Business in Northeast Asia.

The MEHRD will allow natives to establish international high schools in economic special zones for the children of foreigners staying in the zone.

In the second half of this year, the government will designate Songdo New City, Youngjongdo, Kimpo Busan Harbor, Kwangyang Supporting Area as economic special zones according to the regulation of Economic Special Zones.

The international schools may be allowed to recruit foreign and domestic students from the whole country as well as from the economic zones.

The international schools will focus on foreign languages, comprehension of international relationship to bring up human resources equipped with international availability and sensibility. For the purpose the school will employ foreign teachers.

At the moment, there is a unique international high school, Busan International High School established in 1998, but it is being operated for domestic students like other foreign language high schools. So the operation is far from its prospectus.

The MEHRD will allow Korean corporations who have required qualification to establish international schools that can be established by foreigners at the moment.

For the enrollment qualification of domestic students to the schools, the ministries concerned in economics and the MEHRD have different opinions. The former insists on abolishing 5 years overseas staying or reducing to 2 years, and the latter insists on keeping 3 years at minimum at the level of equal opportunity with JeJu International Free City.

For primary and middle schools, The MEHRD will increase 5,000 foreign native language teachers by 1,000 every year from year 2003 to year 2007 (English – 4,150, Japanese – 700, Chinese-150). So one teacher will be placed for one primary and one middle school. At the moment there are 141 foreign native language teachers. However, the Ministry of Planning and Budget is reluctant to agree with the plan because it is not easy to recruit foreign native teacher with monthly payment of 2.5 to 3 million won plus accommodation, and the plan requires 700 billion won annual budget. Therefore the realization of the plan is not clear at the moment. On the other hand, The MEHRD has a plan to support financially for the local universities that induce more than a certain number of international students, and for the local universities that build accommodation facilities. The MEHRD will reflect the activities as assessing tertiary education institutions.

inchul@donga.com