'Multicultural Autonomous and Innovative Schools' Designated in Geumcheon, Guro, and Yeongdeungpo Districts of Seoul

Expansion of Curriculum Autonomy Including Opening Elementary School Second Foreign Language Classes

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul's Guro-gu, Geumcheon-gu, and Yeongdeungpo-gu, areas with a high concentration of multicultural students, are being designated as 'Multicultural Autonomous Schools,' with plans to support each school’s unique characteristics, such as second foreign language classes.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 30th the 'Mid- to Long-term Development Plan for Co-growth of Students in the Three Southern Districts' jointly with the three district offices. This plan, centered on the three southern districts, will be applied throughout Seoul, with a total investment of 51.8 billion KRW over five years from this year through 2024.

According to the plan, the Office of Education will designate schools with a high concentration of multicultural students that wish to participate as 'Multicultural Autonomous Schools' and grant them greater autonomy to establish new subjects not included in the national curriculum, such as second foreign language classes in elementary schools.

After gathering opinions through this year, about five 'Multicultural Innovation Schools' will be designated next year. These innovation schools are expected to serve as the 'initial model' of Multicultural Autonomous Schools.

An official from the Office of Education said, "Multicultural Innovation Schools will feature education that enhances multicultural sensitivity through interdisciplinary integration."

For schools in multicultural student-dense areas operating bilingual classrooms, the project to assign multicultural language instructors will continue. These instructors are responsible for Korean Special Language (KSL) courses and after-school classes for multicultural students and serve as assistant teachers during regular classes.

There is also consideration to relax the criteria so that even those without Korean nationality but who meet certain qualifications can become multicultural language instructors.

The Office of Education plans to open a four-day intensive Korean language and culture adaptation course at the Daon Center, a hub-type multicultural education support center, for newly arrived immigrant students and foreign students, with plans to expand it to a 3-6 month course later.

A 'Short-term Entrusted Korean Language Preparatory School' offering intensive Korean language and culture adaptation education will also be operated.

This plan was developed out of concern that while society is rapidly transforming into a 'multicultural society' with a sharp increase in multicultural students, education policies have not kept pace. It also considers the issue of non-multicultural students leaving schools with a high concentration of multicultural students due to conflicts between multicultural and non-multicultural students.

As of 2019, Seoul had 17,929 multicultural students, an approximately 83% increase from about 9,800 in 2014, five years earlier. By nationality, Korean-Chinese and Chinese students make up the largest share at 51.1%, followed by Vietnamese at 15.8%, Japanese at 9.1%, Filipino at 6.4%, and Mongolian at 3.2%. The three southern districts account for 27.1% (4,858 students) of Seoul’s multicultural student population.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.