Overseas Schools Adopting Korean Increase 1.9 Times in 10 Years
Establishing Organization to Develop Korean Language Promotion Strategy
To meet the growing global demand for Korean culture following author Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature, the Ministry of Education will activate Korean language education in overseas elementary and secondary schools. A specialized organization will be established to develop Korean language dissemination strategies by country, and the dispatch of native Korean language teachers will be expanded.
On the 25th, the Ministry of Education held the 9th Social Relations Ministers' Meeting at the Government Seoul Office and presented the "Plan to Activate Korean Language Education in Overseas Elementary and Secondary Schools." Previously, since supporting the establishment of Korean language classes in local schools in the United States in 1999, the Ministry has promoted support tailored to each country and school situation, such as class operation expenses and dispatching Korean language teachers, to enable Korean language classes to be established and operated in elementary and secondary schools in countries with demand for Korean language education.
According to Ministry of Education statistics, the number of schools adopting Korean increased about 1.9 times from 1,111 schools in 2014 to 2,154 schools last year. Last year, a total of 202,745 students in 47 countries received Korean language education.
Accordingly, the Ministry plans to establish a specialized organization that investigates and analyzes formal Korean language education systems and Korean language education demand, and based on this, develops Korean language dissemination strategies for elementary and secondary schools by country and region. A budget of 200 million KRW has been allocated in next year's government budget proposal.
In addition, the Ministry plans to establish customized strategies considering the growth cycle of overseas elementary and secondary Korean language education and support the creation of self-sustaining conditions for overseas elementary and secondary Korean language education by developing local teacher training programs.
Along with this, the dispatch of native Korean language teachers will be expanded to regions where elementary and secondary Korean language teachers are needed, and local Korean language teacher training programs will be expanded. The "Korean Language-Based International Exchange Activation Project," a collaboration between metropolitan and provincial offices of education and Korean Education Centers, will also be further promoted.
Furthermore, digital Korean language learning content will be discovered and disseminated, and through collaboration with companies, Hallyu star video materials will be actively utilized in elementary and secondary Korean language education content. At the same time, the scale of the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) exam administration will also be expanded.
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