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| Children of multicultural families and their mothers, marriage immigrants to Korea, participate in a bilingual education program at a family support center in Hongseong county, South Chungcheong Province, in this undated photo. Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family |
By Lee Hae-rin
Korea plans to strengthen support for bilingual education for children from multicultural backgrounds at family support centers across the country, the government announced, Wednesday.
Since 2014, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been operating bilingual education projects to help children from multicultural families learn their parents' native languages from an early age.
This year, the ministry expanded the support by providing tailored bilingual classes for multicultural children aged under 12, reflecting growing demand from multicultural families.
The ministry also published a teaching guide on bilingual education and distributed copies to family support centers across the country last month in time for summer vacation programs. There are 211 family support centers in Korea as of June 2023.
Furthermore, a family support center in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, launched a bilingual education training course for marriage immigrants this year. Ten marriage immigrants from Vietnam, China and the Philippines acquired bilingual teaching licenses and will start teaching multicultural children their non-Korean mothers' native language.
The ministry said 210 immigrants are working as bilingual teachers at family support centers across the country as of this year. It plans to foster more bilingual professionals to create jobs and support migrants' economic independence.
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| Children of multicultural families learn Cambodian in a bilingual education program at a family support center in Seoul's Guro District, in this undated photo. Courtesy of Ministry of Gender Equality and Family |
"I have been proud of my multicultural identity, largely because it gave me bilingual competence," said a 22-year-old surnamed Choi from Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.
According to the ministry, she honed her Korean and Chinese communication skills through the bilingual education programs at a local family support center and won awards at the national bilingual contest for multicultural youth.
"Understanding the culture and language of my parents' countries is my identity and my strength," she added.
Kim, a 22-year-old university student who is also a current member of the ministry's multicultural conference, said she regrets not having learned her mother's native Chinese when she was younger.
She was only taught Korean at her multicultural family support center and she wishes it had a bilingual program, which she believes could have helped her become fully bilingual.
A bilingual teacher at a family support center in Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province surnamed Ma said her center runs bilingual classes during nighttime and weekends, due to growing demands for bilingual education and the diversity in nationalities of marriage immigrants.
"The ministry will continue to actively support youth with multicultural backgrounds to develop their strengths of bilingual competence and grow into our society's talents," Gender Minister Kim Hyun-sook said.
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