Education for children who are members of multicultural families
Prohibition against the discrimination of children from multicultural families
- The state and local governments must not discriminate against children and juveniles of any multicultural family in providing care and education services for children and juveniles (Article 10, paragraph 1 of the “Multicultural Families Support Act”).
Educational program support
- Children and juveniles of multicultural families are entitled to receive support for extracurricular or after-school education programs to quickly adapt to school life (Article 10, paragraph 2 of the “Multicultural Families Support Act”).
Support for youth with immigrant background
- The state and local governments must establish and implement the necessary policies, including counseling and education, to assist youth from any multicultural family and other immigrant youth who experience difficulties in social adaptation and academic performance to adapt to society and improve their academic capabilities (Article 18 of the “Youth Welfare Support Act”).
- The Minister of Gender Equality and Family, the mayor, the provincial governor, and the head of the local si, gun, or gu district may implement comprehensive after-school activities for youth. In this case, after-school programs may target youth who require special education and activities, such as multicultural youth (Article 33-4, paragraph 1 of the “Enforcement Decree of the Youth Welfare Support Act”).
Language development support program for children of multicultural families
Language Development Support Project for Multi-Cultural Family Children (refer to page 206 of the “Family Project of 2023 (II),” Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, January, 2023)
- The Language Development Support Project for Multi-Cultural Family Children aims to set the foundation for developing the foundation for children of multi-cultural families to become sound community members and grow into talented global citizens. The project provides systematic and professional language development services to accomplish this goal.
· The program evaluates the language development status of children of multicultural families, and provides proper language education for children with communication difficulties to ensure their healthy development.
· In addition to language education for children of multicultural families, the program provides counseling and teaching methods to multicultural parents to promote their children’s language development in everyday life.
Program recipient selection criteria (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, “2023 Guide to Family Programs (Ⅱ),” , p 210)
- Children of multicultural families requiring language assessment and language education (For 12 or below; applicable to a child attending elementary school even above 12 years old).
- Persons eligible for preferential selection
· Recipients of the National Basic Living Security, Families with income that corresponds to 52% of the median income or below
· Single-parent families, families with children raised by their grandparents, dual-income families, families with multiple children (3 children or more), where the family member has a disability or disease that requires convalescence
· Families residing in islands and remote areas
· Even if the applicant does not satisfy the above criteria, if he/she is determined by the head of the local si, gun, or gu district to be in need of such support (Example: Priority can be given to low-income unemployed households, such as small business owners having suspended or closed operation, and temporary or daily workers without work)
- Ineligible applicants
· Multicultural family children who are receiving speech therapy vouchers or other free services with goal of language promotion and education, as subsidized by national or local government
· Double application is not accepted for overlapping children's living services among the visiting education services for multicultural families
Major programs (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, “2023 Guide to Family Programs (Ⅱ),” p 212-214)
- Language assessment for children of multicultural families
· The degree of language development of a child is assessed using the optimal assessment tools for the corresponding child.
- Language education for children of multicultural families
· Based on the results of the language development assessment, the program provides language education for children requiring education to promote development of vocabulary and syntax, communication and social communication skills, and reading and speaking ability.
- Counseling and education for parents
· Counseling of parents receiving language development support regarding psychological and sentimental support, language assessment, educational consulting, and an education course on Activating the Use of Language in the Family.
School life of multicultural students
Special classes for multicultural students
- Children or students who are members of multicultural families defined in subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the Multicultural Families Support Act (hereinafter referred to as “multicultural students”) may enter or transfer to elementary schools or middle schools which have established special classes for multicultural students, as prescribed by the superintendent of education (Article 19, paragraph 4 and Article 75, paragraph 4 of the “Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”).
Acknowledgment of academic ability of multicultural students
- Where multicultural students are having difficulty with the issuance of certificates of academic ability when they are required to submit such certificates to enter or transfer to another school, their academic ability may be acknowledged by deliberation of the Academic Background Deliberative Committee (Article 98-2, paragraph 1, subparagraph 2 of the “Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”).
※ Please refer to the website of the competent office of education for further details on the entry and transfer of students who have immigrated to Korea.
Multicultural language instructors
- Schools can employ multicultural language instructors to provide language education for students from multicultural families and to provide education to other students that are not from multicultural families in order to enhance their understanding of multicultural families (Article 42, paragraph 1 of the “Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”).
- A multicultural language instructor must have one of the following qualifications (Article 42, paragraph 1 and attached Table 2 of the “Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act”):
· A person with a second-degree or higher regular teaching certificate for secondary school, whose teaching subject is a foreign language other than English
· A person with a bachelor's degree or higher who meets the criteria set forth by the superintendent regarding foreign language proficiency in languages other than English. However, if the superintendent acknowledges that it is unavoidable due to the labor force supply and demand conditions within the jurisdiction, a person with a high school diploma or higher who meets the criteria set forth by the superintendent regarding foreign language proficiency in languages other than English may serve as a multicultural language instructor.
※ Even if a multicultural family is separated due to divorce or other causes, this act will still apply to the children who were once members of the family (Article 14-2 of the “Multicultural Families Support Act”).