Students focus on a worksheet during a beginner-level Mongolian-language class at the Seoul Global Center in central Seoul on Nov. 10, 2019. (Yonhap)
JEJU, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of multicultural students on Jeju Island more than doubled over the past five years, the local education authorities said Sunday.
According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education, the number of elementary, middle and high school multicultural students in the province more than doubled to 2,616 in 2021 from 1,190 in 2016.
The share of multicultural students on Jeju Island has been on an upward trend, rising from 1.5 percent in 2016 to 3.3 percent in 2021.
In contrast to the decline in the overall school-age population, the number of multicultural students has been steadily increasing.
In addition, the number of multicultural children is also on the rise, indicating that the share of multicultural students will likely continue to rise at a faster rate.
Most of the multicultural students on Jeju Island were elementary school students (2,028), followed by middle school students (439) and high school students (149).
The Jeju education office plans to strengthen customized support to ensure a stable school life for multicultural students.
First, it will operate a Korean language support program for children of multicultural families and students who return to South Korea.
It will also run a support program for multicultural students who can speak Korean but have difficulty learning.
For parents of the multicultural students who struggle to communicate in Korean, the education office will provide a service to translate school newsletters in three languages — Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
