Jeju expands presence in global education

Jeju Island is reflecting policymakers’ calls to revitalize the nation’s international education, including in the English language, according to a research report from the Korea Development Institute.

There are three international schools for elementary, junior high and high schools students located in the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

Among them are Canada-based Branksome Hall Asia and U.K.-based North London Collegiate School Jeju, both of which are located in the southwestern part of Jeju.

“The three international schools have taken over a certain portion of the local demand for overseas studies (among teenagers),” said the state-run KDI in a statement.

Branksome Hall Asia, a girls’ boarding school whose headquarters are located in Toronto, has also non-Korean students from areas including China, North America, New Zealand, Britain and Russia starting next semester and teachers with a variety of nationalities.

The school is drawing wide interest among parents in the Gangnam district of Seoul, with many students the offspring of medical doctors and lawyers.

The KDI said that attraction of renowned schools was possible thanks to drastic regulation-easing.

Several more international schools are scheduled open on Jeju Island.

In the tourism sector, the institute said Jeju Province saw the number of tourists grow 9.7 percent per annum on average since 2006.

The province attracted 1.68 million inbound tourists from foreign countries in 2012, compared with 460,000 in 2006.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)