Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Join Me]

Well, looks like it is official. The Korean government is going to let anyone and their brother come over here and teach English. Well, as long as they will work for 1.5 mill a month and live in the country. Good luck with that.

The part I liked though relates to instructors who are found to have HIV. In the article in the Korean Herald it says, �If an applicant is found with drug addiction or serious diseases such as AIDS, his or her scholarship will be canceled and no air ticket will be provided for returning home.�

Isn�t that sweet of the Korean government? Wonder if the government will take the responsibility for educating foreigners about the dangers of skirt chasing with their boss while in Korea?[/size]

The government is calling this the "TALK" program. I got a better name. How about the "WALK" program. Don't wear a condom and you may be walking back to your country.


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[size=7]Requirements for E-2 visa softened



Requirements have been eased for overseas college students who wish to teach English on Korean government scholarship to elementary school students in rural areas.

The Education Ministry had initially sought undergraduate native speakers of English including ethnic Koreans from abroad who have completed at least two years in university.

But now the doors are open to graduates, community college students and ethnic Korean freshmen and sophomores as well.

Designed to close the regional gap in English education, the "Teach and Learn in Korea" program offers overseas college students a chance to experience Korean culture while teaching on government scholarship.

"We eased the application requirements upon requests from gyopo (ethnic Koreans abroad) as juniors and seniors are more likely to focus on preparing for graduation and many gyopo graduates wish to visit their parents' home country before starting a permanent job," said Kim Chang-eun, an Education Ministry official in charge of the TaLK program run by the ministry.

"A wider group of people can apply but that doesn't mean the selection process will be less rigorous."

The scholarship program is titled "presidential" as participants are to receive a "government scholar" certificate from the education minister.

President Lee Myung-bak mentioned this program when he met with Korean residents during his visit to the United States in April.

The TaLK program offers round-trip airfare, accommodation, monthly allowance of about 1.5 million won ($1,500) and various opportunities to experience Korean culture.

Korean embassies and consulates in 20 cities across the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are receiving applications until June 15, the ministry said.

Those who pass the document screening and interviews at the Korean embassies and consulates in their cities will be listed on http://talk.mest.go.kr on June 16 and July 17. Up to 500 selected students will come to Korea in early August to undergo a medical checkup at a designated hospital and orientation between August 4 and 29 to learn about Korea and acquire basic teaching skills.

If an applicant is found with drug addiction or serious diseases such as AIDS, his or her scholarship will be cancelled and no air ticket will be provided for returning home.

The selected candidates will be dispatched to elementary schools in rural areas to teach for six months or a year starting from Sept. 1, the ministry said.

They will teach English speaking, listening and writing skills three hours every day after school for five days a week. Some 1,500 elementary schools in Korea's rural areas currently do not have a native-speaking English teacher.

Each of them will be paired with a Korean college student to help them adjust when they are dispatched to the schools, the ministry said.

Preference will be given to candidates majoring in education, English or subjects related to Korea and those with excellent school records. Applicants who have been taught in English-language schools from junior high school (seventh grade) and have lived abroad for at least eight years are also preferred.

By Kim So-hyun

([email protected])



2008.06.06[/size][/size]

[agoodmouse]

This is actually a good program idea.

[missionshk]

[agoodmouse]

Actually, I agree with you about the AIDS remark. I should have pointed that out, as this message thread's title clearly explains; I meant the program is a good idea, not the AIDS statute. The program on the whole -- inviting overseas Koreans to Korea to teach and live here -- is a decent idea.

It's quite difficult for foreigners who are teachers to live in Korea with AIDS. Public schools test foreign teachers for it. Isn't the AIDS test part of the E2 immigration procedure, too? And for renewals?

[nautilus]

[Hyeon Een]

[captain kirk]

[Join Me]

[bassexpander]

Well that'll make a good article some day....

Joe HighschoolDiploma lost his teaching job in Korea after contracting HIV, and wasn't afforded a plane ticket to leave the country. Lacking enough money to return home, and angered at his treatment, Joe decided to sleep bareback with as many Korean women in Hongdae as possible. He claims to have slept with over 100 Korean women between the ages of 18 and 40 since learning he was HIV positive.

Joe is currently being held in immigration lock-up pending trial. He said, "If they'd have paid my way back, then they wouldn't have an HIV epidemic on their hands. As little as Koreans wear condoms, there are probably tens of thousands of HIV-infected Koreans by now, all because they were too cheap to give me a plane ticket out of here which I could not afford..."

[captain kirk]

[Bigfeet]

That's funny, tighten the visa restrictions but lower the education qualifications. I guess the result is that you'll get more harmless idiots coming in.

[wylies99]

[wylies99]

[Draz]

[captain kirk]