Korea: Candidates Pledge to Improve English Education

[Harold Schiffman]

Candidates Pledge to Improve English Education

Grand National Party presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak and United
New Democratic Party candidate Chung Dong-young have promised, as if
in competition, that the government will take responsibility for
English education. Lee has promised to improve the nation's English
education system on several occasions -- on Oct. 9 when he announced
his education policy, on Oct. 16 when he observed an after-school
class and on Oct. 23 at a seminar hosted by the Korea Federation of
Teacher's Associations.

Chung met with parents at Songjung Elementary School in Mia-dong,
Seoul on Wednesday, where he promised to have the "government take
responsibility for equal English education" -- making a pun in Korean
based on his name ("Jeong"-bu (government), "Dong"-deung-han (equal)
and "Yeong"-eo-gyo-yuk (English education).

◆ Why English?

Both Lee and Chung believe the nation is suffering an English
education crisis. In this globalized era, they believe, it is
increasingly difficult to get by without English, and we can no longer
afford to let the private education market take care of English
education and parents bear the burden. Their promises are aimed
squarely at parents who are worried about the enormous expense of
private English lessons and their children's language skills.

"The day has already passed when we could get along fine without
English proficiency," Lee said, pledging to expand English education.
Currently, half of nationwide spending on private education -- some
W14 trillion (US$1=W901) -- goes towards English classes. The
government must take the initiative in lightening the burden for
parents by halving the expense of private English education, Lee said.

Chung also emphasized that the government must take responsibility for
children's English education. "The amount of money that parents can
afford to spend to give their children a better English education is
leading to widening gaps in academic degrees, careers, personal
status, and eventually social strata. I promise to open an era of
'happy families' once the government resolves this issue," he said.

◆ How they would fix the system

Lee pledged to train 3,000 English teachers (1,000 recruits and 2,000
current teachers) every year who can conduct classes in English for
schools across the country. He also pledged to secure more native
speakers as assistant teachers and to take advantage of
English-proficient college students. He envisions teachers conducting
all classes -- not just English language classes -- in English on a
step-by-step basis. He is also considering expanding international
school zones, as in Singapore and Dubai, where students and teachers
would speak only English on campus.

Chung said he would establish English language classes at all of the
12,000 elementary and secondary schools across the country if he's
elected. English language classes would be conducted mainly as
after-school classes using the current school classrooms, and each
school would have one native speaker and three English-proficient
teachers. He pledged to abolish the English test of the College
Scholastic Ability Test with the purpose of encouraging English
speaking education. The CSAT English test would be replaced by a
state-authorized English certification test that would be introduced
in 2009, he said.

◆ How they would pay for it

Lee's aides estimate that it would cost W72 billion in the first year
of his presidency and a total of W393 billion over the next five years
to train English teachers, develop English immersion education and
send teachers overseas for language training.

GNP lawmaker Lee Ju-ho, who is responsible for Lee's education policy,
said Lee would implement his education policy within the framework of
his welfare policy, which is budgeted at around W10 trillion. He would
raise the funds by saving W5 trillion to W6 trillion from the
government budget, raising special educational funds and collecting
private donations.

Chung said it would cost about W1.8 trillion every year to run
language classes at each school. An additional W1.2 trillion would be
needed to set up facilities, including language labs, during the first
year of his term. His aides said funding would also come from greater
tax revenues in the wake of economic growth, and shortages would be
met by readjusting budgets allocated for the industrial and financial
sectors.



url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200711/200711010004.html







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