Students with multicultural backgrounds attend a class at an elementary school in Seoul in this file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The government is offering counseling sessions to immigrant teenagers for their independence and social adjustment, and revamping various programs and curricula to raise awareness about multicultural families among elementary and middle school students.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Sunday it will provide a variety of support to immigrant teenagers to help them settle in Korean society.
Along with Rainbow School, an institution set up to help immigrant teenagers settle in the country, the government plans to offer Korean language courses and consultation services for school and career planning as well as acquiring Korean citizenship.
On- and offline counseling programs will be tailored to the needs of immigrant teenagers from different age groups and immigration statuses.
The ministry will recruit a specialist capable of translating and offering consultations in Chinese, Vietnamese and Russian to support the counseling sessions.
The ministry also plans to deploy instructors to elementary and middle schools and other educational institutions to teach students about multicultural understanding.
Government data shows that the number of immigrant teenagers including multicultural families, North Korean defectors and others between 9 and 24 years of age reached 269,598 people in 2020, setting a new record, and an 8.2 percent increase from 2019.
The Migrant Youth Foundation conducted a survey of 4,078 immigrant teenagers, which showed that the level of stress immigrant teenagers experience in everyday life stood at 2.51 to 2.76 points out of 4, which was higher than that of non-immigrant teenagers (2.45 points).
Immigrant teenagers also had a lower level of academic achievement (2.843.28 points out of 4) than non-immigrant teenagers (3.42 points).
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
