budget cuts

Government budget cuts in South Korea may lead to less foreign teachers at Korean high schools. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) announced that it plans to cut around 4 billion won ($3.5 million) in personnel expense for 225 foreign high school teachers in 2012. If this new budget plan goes through, the number of foreign high school teachers will eventually decrease. Only high schools that are designated by the government to specialize in the English and Seoul Global High School- a high school specialized in international studies- will have government funding.

Currently, out of the 1, 245 current foreign teachers in Seoul elementary and secondary schools, 895 are supported by the Seoul education office in salaries, housing and airline expenses. It is also important to note that at the present time, the budget cut will only affect secondary teachers, not elementary or middle school teachers. In addition to this, it is important to recognize that this cut will not lead to a layoff of foreign teachers; these teachers will be able to stay for their contracted period. Rather, new high school foreign teachers will not be hired.

A foreign English teacher with her Korean student at a "hagwon"

This cut came about because the SMEO found that the effect of foreign teachers was not very high. Therefore, to increase "quality education." The SMOE found that Korean students preferred Korean English teachers, rather than foreign English teachers. Therefore, the government plans on substituting foreign teachers with Korean teachers with high English proficiency and good teaching methods.

However, this cut does not come with any criticisms. Some experts believe that this government move will mean that underprivileged students will miss the change to learn from foreign teachers. They also believe that this will increase the number of students going to private academies, "hagwon." They also believe that students will miss the chance of having a deeper understanding of English with commonly used English terms that are not found in textbooks.

This was particularly interesting to me because I often thought about teaching English in Korea. Not only that, but I also have had numerous friends who were interested in teaching English in Korea as well. I do agree with critics saying that students may not have a deeper understanding of Korea by having Korean teachers with high English proficiency. However, I do believe that students may still have quality education. Only time will tell whether the budget cut will actually bring more quality education to Korean high school students.