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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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 Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:30 pm Post subject: Yongsan Foreigner School Tussle: US vs Them |
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Do you know about this? Its seems Seoul's flagship foreigner elementary school will have US Christian managment. Admittedly, I'm not clear on everything in this matter but I'm clear that the European establishment in Seoul is livid about the choice.
I think the Koreans evaluated the Euros claim of secularism and then noticed the brisk pace of Mosque construction in Europe as well as PC and multiculturalism mandates and made an evaluation.
Who owns that school? Kyunggi do Education Department? Is it private? Is it expensive? How do you send your kid there? |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Do you mean "US" as in "United States" or "US" as in "us" or even perhaps "US" as in U/S? |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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The supposed clever use of the upper case letters is meant to have two meanings; US=USA, US = us. |
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red dog
Joined: 31 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| When you say "Christian management," do you mean it's going to be a religious school? And if so, how religious? |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not certain. I've read there will be two tracks; one Christian, one secular and the latter will start "eventually".
The British have started thier own Kindy and have been advertising heavily. |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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US, EU Clash Over Yongsan Foreign School
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
With the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK) withdrawing from the Yongsan Foreign School, Seoul, board of directors Thursday, American and European expatriates here are divided over who should run the school.
``As of June 29, we, the EUCCK, officially notified the Korea Foreign School Foundation, and related government departments including the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) of our withdrawal from the board of directors of the school,�� deputy EUCCK secretary-general Jee Dong-hoon told The Korea Times.
However, Jee did not elaborate on why the chamber withdrew from the board on which the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, MOCIE, Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea International Trade Association participate as directors.
The move came a week after a screening committee organized by MOCIE selected the American-style International Christian School to run the foreign school instead of the British International School, which European expatriates preferred.
Two weeks ago, almost all the EU ambassadors to Seoul including those of Bulgaria and Romania sent a letter to MOCIE and other government offices, expressing deep concern about the operation and funding of the foreign school.
``The ambassadors wanted the British school to run the foreign school, according to the letter,�� a government official said on condition of anonymity. ``In short, it is a fight about who will run the school.��
But the European ambassadors noted the rules of the game were suddenly and unilaterally changed by the Korea Foreign School Foundation, which blocked the qualified British International School.
``I know that students and their parents are very satisfied with the British International School, and it is choice number one, at least for Europeans,�� Czech Ambassador to Seoul Tomas Smetanka said. ``I�m not so sure about the International Christian School. It is just one more American school.��
He added the British International School was initially preferred, and the school had already invested money, but the Korean Foreign School Foundation canceled the British school�s involvement and invited the American school to tender a bid.
The MOCIE officials, however, said that the bidding process was conducted in a fair way.
The Yongsan International School was originally designed to improve living conditions for foreigners and attract more foreign investment with a joint effort by the central and Seoul City governments.
The Seoul City administration provided a free lease on 23,100 square meters of land for the school and MOCIE paid 10 billion won ($10.4 million) for construction, which began in April 2005.
It is supposed to open in August. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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Letting a religious organization rin an international school aimed at educating students from, literally, all over is just stupid. Not even a majority of Koreans are Christian.
While these sorts of schools can turn out high percentages of college-bound students, the program is taught with a heavily Christian content. Not just bent, but CONTENT. That makes it inappropriate for a public and international school.
Getting that track up? How long is that going to take? How much indoctrination will non-Christians be subjected to before they do it? They are going to double staff to cover twice the classes for the same number of students?
Add to that, anyone think a teacher straight out of, say, Berkely, will ever work there? Or anyone else that doesn't have short-clipped hair and a rigid spine? A non-Christian having a realistic chance? Think the non-Christian staff ratio will ever match Korea's approximately 66 percent?
Idiots. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| What on earth got into the Koreans to pick a Christian organization to run an international school? Sorry, but it looks to me like the Christians loaded up the collection plate before handing in their bid. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:29 am Post subject: |
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| I think the CEO of Unilever Korea (a European expat) wrote a letter to the IHT Korean Joongang Ilbo insert complaining about the Christian theme. When a CEO of a major corp is writing a letter to the editor and signing his company name to it, there are some very very pissed off biz people in the expat community. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:48 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Not even a majority of Koreans are Christian. |
They passed the 50% mark a few years ago, at least statistically. And those people have a right to have a say in their children's education as well.
These are expensive schools and people will vote with their feet if the religious content is too pushy or restrictive.
Ken:> |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:01 am Post subject: |
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I found this:
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Foreign School Values Culture and Tradition
Dear Editor,
We are writing to express our gratitude to the board members of the Korea Foreign Schools Foundation for their hard work and commitment in fulfilling the foundation�s vision to build and oversee operations of a world class international school in Yongsan. The Korean government has shown an unprecedented level of support for this initiative, designed to stimulate foreign direct investment by improving the quality of life for foreigners.
Whether one agrees with the decision of the foundation to choose a new operator or not, it is unfortunate that some select members of the foreign community have opted to hurl insults at Korea, its culture, the foundation, and its leadership in protest. The announcement of the successful signing of the operation agreement between the foundation and ICS Seoul on July 4 has now brought about a new wave of attacks.
What is interesting to us is that these ``objective�� observers have had no contact with the ``school drama�� yet speak with authority. We wonder if the lack of facts in their letters stem from a lack of first-hand knowledge about the school and conversations with parents who actually send their children there.
As the ICS parent-teacher organization (PTO) president, I regularly meet with our parents and believe most of our parents are pleased with the education program and caring school environment ICS offers. In fact, our May 2006 parent survey not only had a phenomenal 50 percent response rate, but also showed 90 percent of our parents feel their child is happy about being an ICS student.
The truth is that ICS is the second most international school in Korea with students from 44 countries across six continents and many different religious backgrounds, including Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist. We deeply value the rich mix of culture and traditions represented at ICS and are thrilled our children have made friends with students from all corners of the world. Clearly, ICS is a Christian school, but the wealth of cultures and religions represented in its student body proves it is inclusive, not exclusive. Without question, ICS teachers show proper respect for the beliefs and views of other religions. For example, the high school computer instructor opens his computer lab during the lunch period for those who are fasting during Ramadan, so they don�t have to go to the cafeteria. This year, the winner of the Guardian Award, the school�s top award, was given to a Hindu student. The captain of the soccer team was a Muslim student, unarguably one of the most loved and respected graduating students. For those who prefer a non-religious curriculum, I understand ICS will begin offering a secular division beginning in August 2007.
With respect to the quality of education, the SAT scores, and college acceptance of ICS seniors, the school�s dedication to academic excellence is clearly demonstrated. My husband�s company has taken our family to seven different U.S. cities, to Newfoundland, Canada, to Italy, and now Korea. We have been actively involved in the school my children attended in each of these countries and, by comparison, the academic program at ICS Seoul is clearly at the top.
The university admission rate of ICS graduates for the last three years has been 100 percent; the colleges which have accepted ICS students include some of the world's most prestigious universities: Stanford, Northwestern, Cornell, Duke, Wellesley... the list goes on. Although the clear majority (90 percent) chooses to attend U.S. universities, our students have also been admitted to universities in France, Germany, and other European countries.
Undoubtedly academic standards are a critical factor when evaluating any school, but we believe the quality of a school�s culture and atmosphere is equally important for students. ICS teachers are deeply committed to creating an environment that encourages students to do their best and try new things. In doing so, they have done a wonderful job of building an environment of acceptance and self-esteem. Teachers at ICS care about the whole child, not just their grades.
ICS is clearly a one-of-a-kind school with a unique combination of international flavor, high moral and educational standards, and a caring staff. We are genuinely grateful for the foundation�s courage and choice to focus on facts about our school, our diverse student body and achievements, and to recognize the potential ICS Seoul has to offer.
My husband�s company provides full support for our children�s international education. After visiting a number of international schools, we decided to enroll our son (Grade 9) and daughter (Grade 6) at ICS Seoul. Interestingly, seven other expatriate families from his company decided to do the same. Needless to say, we are extremely pleased about our decision and are enjoying our assignment in Korea; we attribute much of that to the school community of which we are a part. ICS Seoul is a great school and in its new location will only get better.
Dean & Diane Parker
ICS Parents |
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200607/kt2006071016475054070.htm
and this:
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[Guest Column] AMCHAM Position on New School
By Wayne Chumley
AMCHAM Chairman
Much has been written and said about the new school in Yongsan and since AMCHAM has been prominently mentioned in relation to it, I feel the need to clarify a few points.
First, and most importantly, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea is deeply appreciative of the unprecedented level of support shown by the Korean government (MOCIE & Seoul Metropolitan Government) for this very important initiative designed to improve the quality of life and educational options for expatriate families in Seoul.
MOCIE donated $10 million and Seoul Metropolitan Government donated the use of priceless land in Hannam-dong in an effort to improve the foreign investment climate in Korea. This is enormously important because over the last several years, Korea has lost potential investments due to a lack of foreign school space in the schools of choice.
The Korean Foreign Schools Foundation (KFSF) was established to oversee this important project and AMCHAM, along with another foreign chamber of commerce, were actively involved in the process. AMCHAM designated one of our governors who had experience in creating an international school in Pusan as our representative to this Foundation and our leadership has had frequent updates on the progress of the project.
Initially, the British School was selected as the preferred operator but it is my understanding that, due to a variety of factors, they were never able to sign an operating agreement with the Foundation. I would also like to point out that AMCHAM was fully supportive of the British School until we felt they were no longer a viable candidate for the project.
It is important for us to remember that this is a Korean government project funded with Korean taxpayers� money on land donated by Seoul City, so I believe it is realistic to expect that the Korean government, via the Foundation, would expect a reasonable amount of management and financial oversight. It isn�t helpful to get into who said what recriminations but, at a certain point, the Foundation of which AMCHAM is a member, decided it would be impossible to reach an agreement with the British School and a request for proposal was issued.
At that time, there were two foreign chambers of commerce actively involved in creating the selection criteria and both were represented on the selection committee. All participants of the selection committee signed confidentiality agreements so I don�t know which school AMCHAM�s representative voted for, but I can assure you he was given clear instructions to ensure the selection process was fair and transparent and then to vote with his conscience for the school he thought would best serve the needs of AMCHAM members. He was also instructed not to be afraid to non-select any of the schools and to urge to delay a year and hire a consultant to build a completely new school if he felt that was in the best interests of AMCHAM members.
I find it very puzzling that the other chamber has, after participating in designing the selection criteria and participating on the selection committee has now resigned in protest. As the chairman of AMCHAM, I can tell you that our representative to the Foundation has my complete confidence and trust. He has volunteered thousands of hours representing our organization in these important meetings and I believe he has represented us well.
Some in our community may complain that the school selected is not a quality school and to them, I would urge them to actually talk to parents with children in the school and their faculty before making judgments. Their Parent Teacher Organization President, Diana Parker (Chevron family) had this to say: �My husband�s job has taken our family to Newfoundland, Canada, Italy and now Korea. I have been actively involved in the international schools in each of these countries and by comparison, the academic program at ICS Seoul is clearly at the top.�
ICS currently has the second highest number of non-ethnic Korean students and 100 percent of their graduating students are accepted into universities. I have actually looked at the list of schools and I was impressed to see it includes many of America�s top universities including several from Europe as well. Currently students from 44 countries and 16 embassies are represented in their student body with a growing waiting list.
Another complaint I have heard is that as a Christian based school, they will force our children to follow their beliefs. I can assure everyone that AMCHAM has expressed this concern in great detail with the Foundation and the school and every possible measure to ensure this does not occur will be taken.
I was pleased to discover that last year their Speech and Debate champions were not Christians and that one of the winners for a school sponsored talent show was a professed atheist. I find it comforting to note that currently there are children of many faiths represented, including atheists. This seems to me to be a school that welcomes all children and is more concerned with providing the highest quality education in a warm, supportive environment.
When we asked whether other faiths were represented on their parent-teacher association, we were told they didn�t know because they don�t ask that question but, upon further investigation, discovered they have Protestant Christians, Catholics and non-Christians on their parent-teacher association.
We were also especially pleased at their position regarding children with special needs. Two years ago, they hired their first certified special needs teacher and we have been assured they will expand as needed to accommodate a greater number of students with mild to moderate learning disabilities in order to provide individualized assistance for those students who need extra help.
To summarize, AMCHAM is very grateful to the Korean government for their incredible support to provide this world-class facility and now we believe the school selected is on their way to becoming a high quality international school. To all those people who have additional concerns, I invite you to join us to work together to ensure this school is the best it can be and will become the ``benchmark for Asia�� that we all have envisioned it could be. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| A far as I know from talking to students, Christian organizations(the Salesians for example) already have some sort of arrangemet with the Ministry Of Education to run schools that are essentially public. So this probably wouldn't strike the average Korean, Christian or otherwise, as particularly unusual. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Moldy Rutabaga wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Not even a majority of Koreans are Christian. |
They passed the 50% mark a few years ago, at least statistically. And those people have a right to have a say in their children's education as well.
These are expensive schools and people will vote with their feet if the religious content is too pushy or restrictive.
Ken:> |
Stats? Links? |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| A far as I know from talking to students, Christian organizations(the Salesians for example) already have some sort of arrangemet with the Ministry Of Education to run schools that are essentially public. So this probably wouldn't strike the average Korean, Christian or otherwise, as particularly unusual. |
Not concerned with it's usualness  , but it's appropriateness. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
On the other hand wrote:
A far as I know from talking to students, Christian organizations(the Salesians for example) already have some sort of arrangemet with the Ministry Of Education to run schools that are essentially public. So this probably wouldn't strike the average Korean, Christian or otherwise, as particularly unusual.
Not concerned with it's usualness , but it's appropriateness.
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But the "usualness" kind of determines the appropriateness, no? If the average Koreans as a society accept the practice, what do you think is going to be accomplished by an ex-pat led campaign targetting one particular instance of it? |
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