Korea was a land of opportunity for Vietnamese immigrant Ho Chi Wan, but little did she expect that opportunity would be education.
Since coming here six years ago, Ho has found a loving husband and rediscovered her passion for education.
Since 2007, Ho has graduated from elementary and middle school and is now a second year student in high school with hopes set on college and later becoming a teacher.
“When I first came to Korea, I was unable to communicate with my husband so there were a lot of misunderstandings between us,” said Ho, who was the first to leave behind her parents and four siblings.
“So I asked my husband if I could attend school to learn Korean so I could communicate with him and live a more fulfilling life,” said Ho.
After a few classes at her local multicultural family support center, Ho realized that she was picking the language up much more quickly than her peers.
But in Vietnam, education did not come so freely to her.
“I graduated from an elementary school and was on my way to middle school but my father was old fashioned, believing that girls did not need to go to school, so I was unable to finish,” said Ho.
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Lee Nam-gil poses with his wife Ho Chi Wan, who is on her way to complete all of her education in Korea. (Robert Lee/The Korea Herald) |
Luckily Ho’s husband of six years, Lee Nam-gil, understood the mother of two, as he had struggled with his own dreams of education.
“Once I graduated from high school, I told my family that I wanted to go to college, but because of my family’s financial situation, they were against the idea,” said Lee.
So he vowed he would send her to school no matter what it took. Wth the full support of her husband and in-laws, Ho entered the Ajumma School at Yangwon Elementary School in 2007.
Ajumma School caters to adults of all ages who were unable to pursue their education in the past.
After two years of intensive courses at Yangwon, she graduated from Korean elementary school and moved on to middle school in 2009.
Entering Ilsung Women’s Middle and High School was a real challenge.
Not only did Ho deal with learning the same curriculum as other middle school students, but she was also carrying her daughter at the time and had to run a family.
But dedicated to his wife’s education, Lee picked up the slack at home by doing laundry, dishes and anything else the family needed done. The cost of tuition for Ho and her family was never a problem until she reached high school, where tuition costs 200,000 won ($172) a month. Although Ho eventually received a full scholarship from the city, her initial shock at the cost was overcome by another supportive push from her husband and his renewed vow to support her education.
And Ho has a new goal.
“My dream is actually to become a school teacher here. Since there are so many multicultural families now, I feel that in the future there will be the need for teachers with dual language skills,” she said.
Although Ho still has another year before she graduates from high school, she will have to clear the hurdle of university tuition to study further.
According to one Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official, the government has focused all of its support for multicultural families on assimilation into the country, and offers nothing for higher education.
“The government does not have a program that offers scholarships or funding for immigrant wives who wish to pursue tertiary education,” said the official, who works with spouses from overseas.
There are only a handful of universities that offer scholarships for immigrant wives.
According to the official, there are many immigrant wives who seek higher education but cannot afford it.
Foreign students are given substantial scholarships, but once they get Korean citizenship, they are no longer eligible for such programs.
“A lot of translators, who are usually immigrant wives, express the wish to pursue higher education,” said the official.
By Robert Lee (
robert@heraldcorp.com)
