The Gyeonggido Office of Education (GOE) said Gyeonggi Korean-language Sharing School was opened on Oct. 17 in Ansan.
The school offers diverse programs including intensive training in Korean, bilingual education and psychological support over short- (60 days) and long-term (one semester) formats for elementary, middle and high school students from multicultural families struggling with Korean.
Under this regional partnership model, a local government provides facilities such as community and youth training centers while its education office backs programs and budget.
Launched on Oct. 17, the school will be run by the Ansan Office of Education and staffed by four retired teachers who will run intensive classes in Korean.
Gyeonggi-do has 48,966 students from multicultural families, the most in the country and accounting for 26.2% of all students from such households. The figure has also kept rising.
The GOE said that starting with Ansan, similar schools will be opened in other cities in the province like Dongducheon, Namyangju and Siheung.
"Intensive Korean-language education can develop the strengths of students from multicultural families and support their growth into global talent," said Cho Young-min, head of the GOE's Convergence Education Division. "We will expand the number of these Korean-language schools to offer a new direction and create a leading model for multicultural education."
