Equal Starting Line Support for Multicultural Youth... Pre-Enrollment Learning and Career Counseling Included

'Inclusive Support Measures for School-Age Multicultural Family Children' Established
Academic and Career Counseling for School-Age Children Supported at Family Centers
New 'Dabaeum Project' for Basic Learning Before Elementary School Enrollment Launched
'Rainbow School' and Others for Out-of-School Children Who Entered Midway

Jeong Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is announcing the 'Inclusive Support Measures for School-Age Children from Multicultural Families' on the 4th at the Government Seoul Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The number of multicultural students attending school has increased 3.4 times compared to nine years ago, prompting the implementation of various programs to help multicultural youth overcome academic gaps and adapt to school life.

On the 4th, the government held the 20th Multicultural Family Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, where they approved the 'Inclusive Support Plan for School-Age Multicultural Children' and the '2022 Multicultural Family Policy Implementation Plan.'

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jung Young-ae stated, "The gap in higher education enrollment rates between multicultural youth and general youth reaches 18 percentage points, and while the overall student school violence victimization rate is 1.1%, it is significantly higher at 8.2% for multicultural youth. They face many difficulties related to multicultural issues such as school life, Korean language proficiency, and discriminatory treatment by teachers. Moving forward, we will develop the diversity and talents of multicultural youth so they can grow into future talents of society."

The number of multicultural household members accounted for 2.1% of the total population as of 2020, with multicultural births making up 6.0% of the total (272,000). The number of multicultural family members is on the rise. While the school-age population decreased by 21% from 6.72 million in 2012 to 5.32 million, the number of multicultural students increased by 240% from 47,000 to 160,000.

Accordingly, the government decided to implement support measures that guarantee equal starting points for multicultural youth and help develop their diversity and talents.

First, to close the academic gap, academic and career counseling services will be introduced at 78 family centers starting this year. Based on the pilot project results, the plan is to expand this to 231 family centers nationwide by 2025. To enhance bilingual communication skills of multicultural children and youth, the 'Bilingual Family Environment Creation Project' will educate on bilingual communication methods and operate a bilingual talent database.

Starting in March, the 'Dabaeum' project will begin at 90 family centers to support basic learning such as reading, writing, and arithmetic before and after elementary school enrollment to improve basic academic skills of multicultural children and youth. A budget of 1.9 billion KRW has been allocated to serve about 1,800 participants. Korean language classes within schools will be expanded to 404 classes this year to help newly arrived children and youth learn Korean quickly.

To support psychological stability and social development of multicultural family youth, one-on-one professional psychological counseling will start this year at 78 family centers through youth counselors. Counseling interpreters will assist children and youth with limited Korean proficiency by providing counseling in their native languages, and services necessary to improve parent-child relationships will be provided based on psychological counseling results. Diversity-related content will also be included in school violence prevention education programs.

Minister Jung explained, "Academic and career consulting will target school-age children from 7 to 18 years old. Psychological and career counseling will be conducted through youth professional counselors, and four career and employment consulting sessions per year will be held in cooperation with external specialized institutions, providing services to about 3,700 people annually."

To help multicultural students participate smoothly in school classes, supplementary curriculum programs will be provided, and 17 types of supplementary teaching materials covering key concepts and vocabulary will be produced and distributed as video content. Parent education and 'Multicultural Parent Schools' will be operated for multicultural parents.

The 'Rainbow School' will also be operated to assist social adaptation and settlement of out-of-school newly arrived children. Naturalized Koreans and others will be selected as mentors to provide career mentoring. Enrollment guidance materials for newly arrived children will be provided in 14 languages.

The Multicultural Family Support Act specifies that if a foreign father or mother married internationally resides abroad, they are excluded from support. The government plans to amend related laws to expand support targets for multicultural families to prevent such blind spots.

To improve perceptions toward multicultural children and youth, schools are recommended to conduct multicultural education for at least two hours annually, and related video content will be produced and distributed.

Detailed tasks for the basic plan to support long-term settlement of multicultural families will also be implemented. Inspections of illegal advertisements by international marriage brokerage agencies will be strengthened, and COVID-19 quarantine guidelines will be produced and distributed in 12 languages. The linkage between regional multicultural family support centers, Danuri Call Centers, and support facilities for migrant women victims of violence will be reinforced to establish a thorough response system. If crime victims are identified, they will be connected to the 'Crime Victim Migrant Women Protection and Support Council' to aid recovery.

To expand social and economic participation of marriage immigrants, public-private cooperation will operate GED classes for marriage immigrants. The Saeil Center will also provide specialized vocational training reflecting the needs of marriage immigrant women job seekers. Furthermore, multicultural understanding education will be conducted according to occupational groups such as infants, youth, public officials, and military personnel, and marriage immigrants will actively participate as local activists to expand outreach multicultural education.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, "We will make further efforts to establish the perception that multicultural families are members and partners who share responsibility for our future."

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