The Korea Herald

Chadwick to host meeting of overseas schools

Feb 1, 2016

Chadwick International will host the Korea Council of Overseas Schools on March 11, officials said Monday.　The KORCOS is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization of educators from overseas currently located in Korea. This year’s conference, under the theme “Start with Why,” will bring together educators to share their practices while joining efforts on educational topics, according to school officials.　The conference will also invite prominent educators, including Bambi Betts, Richard Cash and Die
Yonsei’s new chief takes office

Feb 1, 2016

Yonsei University’s newly-elected president Kim Yong-hak took office on Monday at an inauguration ceremony held in the school’s Seoul campus. Kim, 63, has worked as a sociology professor at the university since 1987. He acquired a bachelor’s degree in Yonsei in 1980 and later received a doctor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1986. Yonsei University president Kim Yong-hakIn his inauguration ceremony at Shinchon-dong, Seoul, he vowed to bring about changes that would help students prep
Education issues set for bumpy year in 2016

Feb 1, 2016

The year 2016 is expected to be a boisterous one in the education sector, especially as government policies continue to fuel political and ideological debates about issues including free child care, history textbook publication and college reform.Last week, Seoul’s education superintendent Cho Hi-yeon suggested the government raise the budget for local education offices to 21.27 percent of the overall tax income, up from the current 20.27 percent, saying that this would allow them to better shou
Appeals court upholds stripping teachers’ union of legal status

Jan 21, 2016

The Seoul High Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of the government’s decision to strip the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union of its legal status, dealing it yet another blow in its two-year legal fight.　The left-leaning group has been engaged in a bitter battle with the Labor Ministry since October 2013, when it was no longer deemed a legal entity. The ministry cited a violation of a labor law clause that bans dismissed education workers from joining trade unions.　According to the Educat
Authorities play chicken over ‘child care crisis’

Jan 20, 2016

Even as payday for kindergarten teachers across the country looms, the impasse between government and regional education authorities over financing the country’s free child care “Nuri” program persisted Wednesday as both sides insisted the other back down. Five education chiefs are at loggerheads with the Education Ministry over the funding of the Nuri program, which subsidizes child care costs for children aged 3-5.Gyeonggi Province, Gangwon Province, North Jeolla Province, Seoul and Gwangju ha
The rooms where time refuses to pass

Jan 18, 2016

Parents, authorities, school officials locked in standoff over preserving ‘memory classrooms’ for Sewol’s student victims
[Weekender] ‘Elite education vital to help students reach their full potential’

Jan 8, 2016

The debate over gifted education in Korea is generally played out between two sides: Opponents argue the special education program is tailored for the select few and undermines the principle of equal opportunity, while others see the programs as a chance to foster smart minds who can lead the nation. (Chung Hee-cho/The Korea Herald)An expert in gifted education agrees with the latter. Suh Ye-won, director of the state-run National Research Center for Gifted and Talented Education, says such educ
Education chiefs propose child care standoff talks

Jan 6, 2016

Heads of six education offices across the country accused the government Wednesday of unfairly forcing local education offices to shoulder the costs for its free child care Nuri program, and suggested an open dialogue to resolve the “crisis.”Education chiefs of Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Gangwon Province, North Jeolla Province and South Jeolla Province held a joint press conference and called for an emergency meeting ― of the leaders of ruling and opposition parties, education superintendents, and
Student councils, scholars denounce sex slave deal

Jan 4, 2016

A local scholars’ group on Monday called for the immediate annulment of last week’s agreement between South Korea and Japan on wartime sex slavery, saying it is working with 380 intellectuals and activists across the world to establish a society solely dedicated to the “comfort women” issue. The student councils of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Ewha Womans University also called on the government to scrap the agreement, while encouraging other universities to join their cause.The grou
Child care crisis looms as funding standoff persists

Jan 4, 2016

Government, education offices dig their heels deeper in strife over childcare funding program
[BEST BRAND] Korea International School committed to 21st century learning

Jan 4, 2016

Korea International School committed to 21st century learningKorea International School focuses on applied learning, where students can apply the knowledge they learn to help creativity, problem solving, and perseverance. Distinctive features of KIS include applied learning labs, an enhanced science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum, robotics programs, the MIT exchange program, and inter-disciplinary projects. Creativity is central to KIS’ applied learning initiative, and one
English Village classes beef up public education

Dec 23, 2015

With only about 80 million native Korean speakers worldwide, South Korea’s current potential to interact globally is limited. It’s no surprise then that the nation has taken an active interest in providing English education programs for its students. Public schools currently offer a standardized English curriculum. Parents, however, do not feel that it is substantial. They recognize the benefits associated with having their child study English and they seek additional resources. Casondra KoufosA
Textbook row taken to Constitutional Court

Dec 22, 2015

South Korean civic groups on Tuesday filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court against the government for “infringing upon the impartiality of education” by taking over the publication rights for secondary education history textbooks.Minbyun, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, said it made the appeal against the Education Ministry’s recent plan to reinstate government-issued textbooks from 2017, a contentious plan that has stoked opposition from mainly the progressive faction and much of the
Multiple choice testing can ‘smother creativity’

Dec 21, 2015

Vice chief of Seoul National University of Education urges reform in Korean education
Korea limits tuition fee hikes

Dec 21, 2015

The Education Ministry on Sunday announced that it has capped college tuition hikes for next year at 1.7 percent, down from 2.4 percent this year.It marked the fourth straight fall of the maximum tuition increase rate. Ministry officials said the rate took into consideration recent inflation rates. The tuition increase cap is restricted by law to 1.5 times the average inflation rate of the previous three years. The average inflation rate for 2013-2015 marked 1.1 percent. The government is planni