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agentX
Joined: 12 Oct 2007
Location: Jeolla province
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 Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject: Jeju jumps headlong into English fray with new city |
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Beginning: Jeju to be mecca for English ed
JEJU - Jeju, Korea�s most popular tourist destination for its warm climate and beautiful scenery, is bracing itself for bigger fame - through English education.
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province in Jeju Island yesterday broke ground for the nation�s first district to be solely devoted to English education, drawing not only domestic but also international students beginning in 2011.
The ceremony was held on 3,790 square meters (936.5 acres) of land in Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo City - around half the size of Yeouido, an island next to Han River in Seoul.
The Jeju Global Education City, its tentative title, will accommodate 12 elementary, middle and high schools using English as their main language. It will include an English education center, residences, hospitals and other living facilities. Three schools will open in March 2011. Completion of the remaining nine schools and of the entire city is scheduled to take another four years.
�When fully established in 2015, the Jeju Global Education City is expected to save Koreans from spending between $324 million and $540 million a year overseas, equivalent to the annual amount spent by 9,000 students leaving Korea for study abroad,� said Park Jae-su, an official in charge of the project at the Land Ministry.
In the long term, the city will attract foreign students from neighboring countries such as China and Japan, who want to learn English in an international environment, he added.
Around 1,700 government officials and Jeju residents, including Chung Jong-hwan, minister of land; Kim Tae-hwan, governor of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province; and Byon Jong-il, chief executive of Jeju Free International City Development Center, attended the ceremony in the afternoon.
The key focus of the education city will be schools. The revised bill on the Jeju Special Autonomous Province that passed at the National Assembly on March 3 has laid the ground for the 12 schools there to have more expansive freedom than other schools in management and curriculum. There will be no restrictions on the qualifications for applicants and no limit on the ratio of domestic students to foreign peers, although the schools will take the format of conventional international schools: Except for Korean language and literature and social science, all subjects will be taught in English. (article continues) |
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2906290
Looks like Jeju province is taking the English Village concept and doubling-down into a full-fledged English community setting. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be another Paju (see Koreabeat.com). |
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AgentM
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: British Columbia, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow, that's impressive. Definitely a good way to jumpstart the local economy. |
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DrOctagon
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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| I feel sorry for the teachers who will have to live in Daejong-eup. |
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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Could be a neat experience.
As long as we're not singing surfing songs all day. . . |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| The key question is who will be administrating these schools - experienced foreigners, inexperienced foreigners, or Koreans? If they're largely run and staffed by Koreans they'll be at best like foreign language HSs, and at worst like Paju English Village. |
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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I have a feeling it will be a monumental cluster**** the first few years no matter what until they figure out just what they're doing.
This is a big project and Korea, like many countries, dreams big but falls short on the actual implementation. |
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Chambertin
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: Gunsan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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Hope it works,
This could draw real money from students all over as perdicted.
Go to the cheaper study abroads in America (rural or snowbelt) or spend a couple years on Jeju island, dumping the leftover cash on drinks and local women.
I know where I would go.
Then again they didnt mention a college.
That is a big mistake. |
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roadwork
Joined: 24 Nov 2008
Location: Goin' up the country
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| Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd be a little spooked about the whole "no limit on the ratio of students to foreign peers" line. |
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