South Jeolla Province's First Foreign School to Open in March 2013

MOA signed on the establishment of a foreign school by Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools

The following are excerpts of a written interview between NewsWorld and Choi Jong-man, commissioner of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone (GFEZ) Authority, in which he touched on the significance and roles of a foreign school, to be partially opened in March 2013 at GFEZ's Shindae district, a first for the province.
Question: Congratulations on the recent signing of an MOA on the establishment of South Jeolla Province's first foreign school. Will you tell our readers about the process and content of the deal?
Answer: I extend a warmhearted thanks to South Jeolla Province Gov. Park Joon-yung, the Suncheon City mayor and Suncheon Eco Valley for their encouragement and support for the signing of the agreement.
The signing of the MOA, fleshing out an MOU on the project, which was signed last Nov. 24, some nine months ago, stipulates the establishment of the foreign school, management plans and investors' conditions, among others.
The latest deal calls for Suncheon Eco Valley, the developer of Suncheon City's Sindae district, to provide the 99,000 square-meter site for the school and investors to put in $55 million by 2018 for the construction of school buildings. It took a lot of time to have the deal include the articles on compensation in the case the terms of the deal are not fully implemented.
Q: Will you comment on the quota difference between the plan on the establishment of the school's admission program, approved by the Jeollanam-do Office of Education, and that of the MOA, an issue the parents of hopeful students are wondering?
A: The educational office gave a green light to the establishment of a foreign school with a capacity of 1,000 primary, middle and high school students on Aug. 31, but the MOA stipulates an admission quota of 2,000 students. The agreement calls for the operation of a foreign school with a capacity of 2,000 students by 2018 and the provision of the site for a school capable of admitting 2,000 students. By increasing the school's student quota every year, the school will be operational with 2,000 students in 2018. If these conditions are not met, legal actions will be taken in accordance with the MOA.
Q: Will you introduce the Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools, the prospective founder of the foreign school?
A: The Maple Leaf Educational Systems is located at Dalian Maple Leaf International School. The educational foundation launched an educational business with 14 students in Dalian, China, in 1995, and it has now come from strength to strength to have 20 schools in China including kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, foreign schools and international high schools with a combined enrollment of 20,000 students. Currently, the educational foundation is in the process of establishing a school in Canada, and a project to build another school is breaking out soon.
The staff of the Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools has some 1,100 employees, including 260 Canadian teachers, who are all by British Columbia, Canada. The Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools have approximately 4,000 graduates, half of which have been admitted into the global top 200 universities.
The Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools offer educational programs certified by British Columbia, Canada's Ministry of Education, and the schools' capability to operate educational programs, which is under strict evaluation and review by the Canadian ministry, is rated to be excellent.
Students of each class vary a little according to primary and secondary schools, but average 25. The foreign school in the Shindae district will be operated with the same educational programs and management systems with native speakers, certified by British Columbia, teaching students in English.
Q: What's about the foreign school's admission qualifications, tuitions, and credit certification?
A: Only foreigners' children and Korean students who have stayed more than three years in foreign countries are allowed to enroll at the school. Korean students' admission share is 30 percent, and the percentage may go up to 50 percent pending the approval of the superintendents of the provincial and city educational offices.
Tuitions have yet to be decided, but the prospective founder's plans submitted to the provincial educational office call for a range of $15,000 to $18,000 in annual tuitions. The annual fees may include the costs related to lunches, school uniforms, school textbooks and school bus transportation, but not boarding expenses.
Graduates are given Canadian graduation certificates, but students of the foreign school are required to meet more than 102 credit hours annually in courses such as Korean language, history and social studies to obtain Korean graduation certification.
Q: Will you comment on the worry over the possible failure in meeting the student quota and the public criticism that the foreign school is a school of the children of well-to-do parents who can afford hefty tuitions?
A: Currently, there are 47 foreign schools in operation across the nation, and some fail to meet their student quotas. But a majority of the students who enroll in the foreign school in Suncheon are expected to hail from the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Jeolla provinces and the western part of Gyeongsangnam-do.
As about 20,000 students are enrolled at the 20 Maple Leaf Educational Systems and Schools across China, Korean students studying in China and Chinese students are expected to transfer or enroll in the foreign school in Shindae, which has strong points such as better educational conditions and lower costs compared to the United States and Canada, down the road.
If the attraction of foreign companies is in high gear when the construction of an industrial estate in the GFEZ is complete, the foreign school is expected to be filled with the children of prospective foreign businessmen and engineers.
Figures released by the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) show that the number of Korean students who return home after going abroad for study at an early age surged from 13,586 in 2005 to 23,698 in 2009. As approximately 20,000 students are returning home from overseas study, the number of Korean students who are qualified for the enrollment in the foreign school may be higher than we think.
The public criticism over becoming a school for the children of well-to-do parents cannot be overlooked. The reality that about 25,000 primary and secondary school students leave for overseas studies at an early age is fraught with woes such as parents' hefty educational burdens and the outflow of national wealth and parents' misgivings and worries over their children's overseas life.
Given the current situation, the operation of a foreign school corresponding to the standards of foreign counterparts would save parents' educational costs without separation from their kids and contribute much to preventing their kids' deviation from overseas study, such as the committing of adolescent criminal acts. It would also benefit the development of the local economy by attracting enrolled students and their parents and relatives.
Q: Will you elaborate on the future schedule of the establishment of the school?
A: The architectural design of the school is being drawn up now after obtaining approval in late August. Construction is to begin around November with a groundbreaking ceremony after completing the design.
School facilities will be built and teachers will be recruited by next year, and the foreign school will partially open in March 2013 with an enrollment of 300 students from grades 8-10 (equivalent to middle school junior and senior and early high school classes in Korea).
As the educational foundation will be charged with details of the operation of the school such as the recruiting of students, explanation sessions for the parents of prospective students will be launched starting in the next half of the year to recruit students, and such events will take place every year to fill a quota of up to 2,000 students.
Q: What benefits will the school bring to the local community?
A: First, it will find a solution to an issue of educating the children of foreigners, one of the preconditions foreign companies take into account when they determine investment destinations. The operation of a foreign school, offering educational programs certified by Canadian educational authorities and fitted with super-class school facilities in this area will serve as an advantage to lure foreign direct investments.
Second, Koreans no longer need to send their children overseas for study with hefty educational costs since their kids at the upcoming foreign school will undergo the same educational programs as foreign students do. Some returning Korean students fail to conform to Korean educational conditions, but students and graduates of the foreign school are more likely to adjust to similar schools into which they are transferred.
I will strive to push ahead with the project, hoping that the time will come when students versed in English and Chinese become leaders of the globalization of this region, and graduates of the foreign schools will work hard to be admitted into global top universities.. nw

Choi Jong-man, commissioner of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone (GFEZ) Authority.

An artist's conception shows South Jeolla Province's first foreign school, to be opened in the GFEZ's Shindae district in March 2013.

Photo on Courtesy of GFEZ