By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family invites adolescents with immigrant backgrounds including North Korean defectors and children of multicultural families to the Rainbow School offering Korean language and career education programs.
The ministry said Wednesday that those aged between nine and 24 can apply for entrance.
The Rainbow School offers 200 to 400 hours of level-based Korean language education annually as well as programs to help adolescents explore their future careers and attain certificates of qualification such as barista licenses.
"As the number of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds has continued increasing, supporting those who have trouble adjusting to their schools has become a very important task," a ministry official said.
According to the ministry data, the number of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds has increased from 249,274 in 2020 to 280,541 in 2022.
In a 2021 survey of children of multicultural families, 56.2 percent of the respondents cited difficult school curricula as a reason for trouble adjusting to school, while 55.4 percent cited communication difficulties.
The ministry said 439 out of 581 adolescents ― or 75.6 percent ― who have participated in the Rainbow School previously said they had experienced an improvement in their life in Korea.
The participants were satisfied most with the Korean language education, followed by cultural experiences and the aptitude development program.
The number of participants in the Rainbow School has also increased from 804 in 2020 to 1,218 in 2021 and to 1,673 in 2022.
"Having played a role as a social safety net, the Rainbow School has contributed to improving the adaptive capacities of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds," Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Ki-soon said.
"We will continue to carry out supporting programs so they can be guaranteed various education opportunities here."
The ministry has conducted a variety of projects to help adolescents with immigrant backgrounds settle well into their local communities.
It has offered both face-to-face and remote counseling programs while facilitating interpreters in various languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian and Mongolian who can assist in communication between adolescents and counselors.
It has also made efforts to improve social perceptions toward adolescents with immigrant backgrounds by dispatching relevant lecturers to elementary and middle schools across the country.
Those who wish to participate in the Rainbow School's programs can call the Migrant Youth Foundation (02-6261-7192) for inquiries.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family invites adolescents with immigrant backgrounds including North Korean defectors and children of multicultural families to the Rainbow School offering Korean language and career education programs.
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| A poster for the Rainbow School / Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family |
The Rainbow School offers 200 to 400 hours of level-based Korean language education annually as well as programs to help adolescents explore their future careers and attain certificates of qualification such as barista licenses.
"As the number of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds has continued increasing, supporting those who have trouble adjusting to their schools has become a very important task," a ministry official said.
According to the ministry data, the number of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds has increased from 249,274 in 2020 to 280,541 in 2022.
In a 2021 survey of children of multicultural families, 56.2 percent of the respondents cited difficult school curricula as a reason for trouble adjusting to school, while 55.4 percent cited communication difficulties.
The ministry said 439 out of 581 adolescents ― or 75.6 percent ― who have participated in the Rainbow School previously said they had experienced an improvement in their life in Korea.
The participants were satisfied most with the Korean language education, followed by cultural experiences and the aptitude development program.
The number of participants in the Rainbow School has also increased from 804 in 2020 to 1,218 in 2021 and to 1,673 in 2022.
"Having played a role as a social safety net, the Rainbow School has contributed to improving the adaptive capacities of adolescents with immigrant backgrounds," Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Ki-soon said.
"We will continue to carry out supporting programs so they can be guaranteed various education opportunities here."
The ministry has conducted a variety of projects to help adolescents with immigrant backgrounds settle well into their local communities.
It has offered both face-to-face and remote counseling programs while facilitating interpreters in various languages such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian and Mongolian who can assist in communication between adolescents and counselors.
It has also made efforts to improve social perceptions toward adolescents with immigrant backgrounds by dispatching relevant lecturers to elementary and middle schools across the country.
Those who wish to participate in the Rainbow School's programs can call the Migrant Youth Foundation (02-6261-7192) for inquiries.
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