This photo provided by the Korean Cultural Centre India shows students taking an online Korean language class.
SEOUL, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) — An increasing number of schools in India are introducing Korean as a regular course.
The Korean Cultural Centre India reported that Greenway Modern School and 11 other schools in New Delhi began teaching the Korean language this semester to elementary and middle school students.
What began with three schools last year has now expanded significantly, with Korean selected as a regular course by 12 schools in just 12 months. These 12 schools are currently offering 15 regular courses on the Korean language.
In India, each school offers elementary, middle, and high school education. Korean language courses for high school students will also be introduced for current elementary and middle school students enrolled in Korean language courses.
India has been seeing rising interest in the Korean language in recent years.
Language learning app Duolingo reported that unlike between Oct. 2019-Feb. 2020 when the number of Korean language students in India grew by only 11 percent, the number of students jumped by 256 percent between March and October of last year.
As if to reflect this rising trend, the Indian government selected the Korean language as one of the regular courses for secondary languages last July.
In January, the Korean Cultural Centre filled all of the spots for the first ‘online Korean class for beginners’ only two minutes after registration opened.
The centre also visited some 80 local schools, where Korean language instructors can be sent, to hold promotions on supporting Korean language courses.
Among them, 27 schools signed a memorandum of understanding with the centre for support on the Korean language courses and cultural exchange.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
