Jeju to Get Massive English-Learning Town

Jeju Island is to get an “English Town” on a 3.8 million sq.m site, some 1.4 times the size of Yeouido, Seoul, in 2010 or thereabouts. The education facility will accommodate school students in dorms or private homes for one or two years and offer classes in English, which are recognized as formal education by the government. Thus a student in the first year of junior high school in Seoul can spend a year in the English town, taking classes there, and then return to his or her school in Seoul and start third-year classes.

 

The government's plan is to offer classes in English for one to two years to elementary students from second to fifth grade, and classes to help with university entrance overseas plus activities such as horse riding or water sports to junior high and high school students. Schools in the English town as independent private schools will be treated differently from ordinary schools in terms of tuition and curriculum requirements. Education centers offering summer school for adults and college students will also be set up. “Tuition will be a little higher than the W10-20 million alternative schools ask for, but we’ll make sure it will be less than what you usually spend on studying overseas in Singapore or Australia,” said Cho Won-dong, who is in charge of economic policy in the Ministry of Finance and Economy. "We are considering whether to set aside part of the proceeds from land development and use them for scholarships for students from less fortunate families.”

 

(englishnews@chosun.com )