Strengthening Basic Learning Support and Career Consulting for Multicultural Students

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held an on-site meeting with school-age multicultural children and adolescents at the Ansan Multicultural Family Center on February 7.

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[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will launch a project this year to support the school life adaptation, academic achievement, and career development of children from multicultural families.

On the 13th, Kim Kyung-sun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, will discuss the current status and activation plans of the project with family center directors who are carrying out support programs for school-age children from multicultural families.

In February last year, the government established the 'Inclusive Support Plan for School-Age Children from Multicultural Families' to ensure equal starting opportunities for multicultural students.

The number of multicultural students increased by 240%, from 47,000 in 2012 to 160,000 last year. While the total number of students is decreasing, the number of multicultural students is rapidly rising.

One of the newly launched projects this year, the 'Dabaeum Project,' supports basic learning such as reading, writing, and arithmetic before and after elementary school enrollment to improve the basic academic skills of children from multicultural families at 90 family centers.

Additionally, to enhance students' motivation for learning and enable them to plan their own careers, 78 family centers provide academic and career counseling (consulting) through professional counseling services.

Marriage immigrants face difficulties in guiding their children's learning due to a lack of information about the Korean education system and social networks, raising concerns about widening academic gaps. The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to remote classes and increased time children spend at home, has caused marriage immigrants to experience even greater challenges.

At this meeting, they plan to share field support cases and difficulties related to new projects like the Dabaeum Project and discuss ways to activate future projects.

Family center directors are expected to convey field opinions emphasizing the need to develop classes reflecting the characteristics of urban and rural areas and to conduct them alongside parent education.

Vice Minister Kim Kyung-sun said, "We will listen carefully to what policies school-age children from multicultural families and their families truly need and will spare no support to help these children grow healthily from an equal starting point. The role of the center directors in the field is crucial for the current policies to achieve results, so I ask for your special attention and care."

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