The World is Too Small for Korean Education Refugees

[영어도우미]

The World is Too Small for Korean Education Refugees

 

The number of young Koreans going abroad to study is mushrooming. There are now Korean students in every corner of the world. As a wider cross-section of society send their children overseas for study, stories of success and problems increase as well. The Chosun Ilbo takes a closer look at the educational exodus and the people who leave in search of greener shores.

Kim (40) of Ilsan, north of Seoul, has taken his daughter, who is in junior high school, and his son, an elementary student, and left for South Africa. Kim feels the country is a good place to study. The U.S. and Canada were too expensive, and China seemed dangerous. “At first, I felt that Africa was just too far away,” Kim said. “But now I’m satisfied, because for just W3.5 million a month, you can get a British-style education in a country that’s a bit of Europe in Africa.”

Kim Bo-kyung went to the south Pacific island of Fiji when she was a high school sophomore in July 2005. Her parents recommended Fiji, an alcohol-free environment, for its British-style education. Remarkably, around 1,000 Koreans live on the island, including 400 students. “I miss my family and friends, but I’m having a good time swimming and playing golf,” she says.

In an era of rapid globalization, Korea’s educational system is under heavy fire for shortcomings like a failure to teach students to communicate in English, for pressing all students, both the gifted and those who struggle, into the same straightjacket curriculum, for a constant barrage of regulations and for leaving students dependent on private after-school tuition.

For the armies of students who look overseas for better schools, the world is getting too small. Now it’s not just the U.S., Canada and Australia: Korean parents are sending or taking their children to thoroughly exotic locations in Southeast Asia, Africa, India, the South Pacific and South America.

Lee, another father, sent his twin daughters to a junior high school in India a year ago. “They’re learning English, French and Hindu,” he says. “The school takes good care of them, sending us updates on how they are doing.”

Cha sent his son and daughter to Ecuador. “If you graduate from a Spanish-language international school, you can speak English, Spanish and French,” he said. “I plan on sending them to university in the U.S. or the European Union”

As the number of Korean guest students increases, they also bring changes to their host countries. Malaysia’s Cempaka International School has created a two-month cultural adjustment program specifically for Korean students, the first time such a program has been developed in Malaysia. The goal is for students to spend two months to see whether they like it in their new environment. It was set up at the request of Korean parents. “One out of four students in this school is Korean, so it’s not easy for the school to refuse requests from Korean parents,” one said.

Schools in the U.S., U.K. and New Zealand are hiring Korean consultants. Take Rangitoto College in New Zealand, where 600 of the 3,500 students are Korean. “My job is to make sure students are comfortably settled within six months,” says Kim Hae-jung, a consultant at the college.

 http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200701/200701270007.html

 

VOCABULARY LIST:

 

mushrooming - to increase very quickly

exodus - the movement of a lot of people from a place

under heavy fire - suffering from heavy criticism

shortcomings - a fault of failure to reach a particular standard

straightjacket - something that severely limits development or activity in a way that is damaging

barrage -  a great number of complaints, criticisms or questions suddenly directed at someone

 

DISCUSSION POINTS:

 

1. Do you know a lot of families who have sent their kids to study abroad?

2. Would you consider sending your kids to study overseas?

3. What are the advantages of being educated abroad?

4. When kids are sent to study in another country, do you think they should go by themselves or along with their families?

5. If you're a student, where would you like to study? Why?

6. Is studying abroad part of the curriculum of most university students these days?

7. Do you agree that the Korean system of education has a " straightjacket curriculum " ?

8. Are you satisfied with the current education system in Korea?