Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Superintendent Lim Tae-hee said, “Gyeonggi Education will realize customized special education and multicultural education for which the government is responsible, and will actively support both students with disabilities and multicultural students to become confident members of the future society and grow into talented individuals.”
Superintendent Lim said this at a meeting held after 13 members of the National Assembly Education Committee visited special and multicultural education sites in the province.
Superintendent Lim said, “Gyeonggi Education has established a three-year plan and is investing special resources every year to provide special education that allows students with disabilities to become independent and grow on their own.” He added, “It is currently in the early stages, but after three years, the quality of special education will improve.” “We are looking forward to this being achieved significantly,” he emphasized. He continued, “About 28% of the nation’s multicultural students are enrolled in Gyeonggi-do,” and added, “We are promoting the establishment of an international school in Ansan to intensively support language education so that multicultural students can adapt without giving up on school midway, and to find a good multicultural education model.” “There is,” he explained.
The National Assembly Education Committee (Chairman Kim Young-ho, member of the Democratic Party of Korea) visited Suwon Hannuri Kindergarten and Ansan Seoksu Elementary School in turn as part of the 2024 National Assembly Education Committee audit schedule. This visit was designed to check the Gyeonggi education site, which presents a new model and blueprint for special and multicultural education, and to find institutional and financial support measures at the National Assembly and Ministry of Education levels.
Members of the Education Committee confirmed the importance of the function and role of public education through learning activities and class demonstrations with students and teachers.
Kim Young-ho, chairman of the National Assembly Education Committee, inspected education sites in the province and said, “Today’s visit gave special meaning to the members,” and added, “As everyone has reached a consensus, the National Assembly will also join forces in the policies of the Provincial Office of Education and the Ministry of Education.”
The Provincial Office of Education’s special and multicultural education is a core policy of Superintendent Lim Tae-hee, who emphasizes that ‘student growth and change are the ultimate goals of public education.’ The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is playing a leading role among the 17 provincial and provincial offices of education across the country.
The Provincial Office of Education introduced the concept of ‘Universal Design’ and considered students with disabilities from the stage of establishing educational policies. A three-year plan to revitalize special education was established and support was expanded to 36 special schools.
Hannuri Kindergarten, which was selected as the site visit institution on this day, is a school that focuses on integrated education based on this curriculum and is a ‘disabled empathy school’ based on a play-centered curriculum. The Disability Empathy School is scheduled to expand to all schools in the province starting from the 2025 school year.
As of 2024, there are about 53,000 multicultural students attending school in the province, which corresponds to 27.8% of multicultural students nationwide. Seoksu Elementary School, which was selected as the site visit institution on this day, has more than half of its students being multicultural, and as an educational training school, it is also working to strengthen the teaching capabilities of prospective teachers.
The Provincial Office of Education supports early adaptation, settlement, and growth of school life through Gyeonggi Korean Language Base School (Gyeonggi Korean Language Sharing School), psychological and emotional support project, and educational practice school. In addition, we plan to promote the establishment of Gyeonggi Ansan International School (tentative name) and foster global talent by strengthening the strengths of multicultural and general students.
Economy Queen Reporter Park So-gi Photo: Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education
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