Language instructors from multicultural backgrounds are paid much less than native instructors at English language institutes. (image: UNESCO APCEIU)
SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — While the number of students from multicultural families is on the rise each year, there are not enough language specialists to educate them, a recent report has revealed.
The Ministry of Education reported that there are now 137,225 students from multicultural families in South Korea, rising by almost 30,000 in the last 2 years.
There are known to be more than 50,000 students from multicultural families in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area alone, with 17,929 currently residing in Seoul, and the remaining 33,482 live in Gyeonggi Province.
The number of language specialists, however, was no more than 489, according to official records.
Among them, 82.2 percent (402 people) were female immigrants, and only 13.1 percent were verified language instructors.
The offices of education in seven regional provinces in the country have not been in charge of employing and managing the language instructors, leaving them without any statistical records on the matter.
The fact that most of the language instructors are not certified also leads to questions about the overall quality of the instructors.
Despite the problems, educational authorities in Seoul, Daegu, Incheon, and South Chungcheong were the only agencies to offer special training for language instructors.
“The authorities should closely follow the current situation and increase the number of instructors in order to ensure that multicultural students can assimilate into our society while being able to learn their mother tongue,” said Rep. Shin Kyoung-min who first addressed the issue.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
