Park Insun, an instructor at the King Sejong Institute branch in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, poses for a group photo with her students ahead of the completion ceremony for the practical Korean-language course in the second half of last year. (Park Insun)
By Kang Gahui
The number of students enrolled in Korean-language classes at primary and secondary schools abroad under the supervision of Korean Education Centers of the Ministry of Education has risen around 50% over the last five years to surpass 190,000.
The ministry and the Korean Educational Development Institute on Aug. 23 said this in the 12th issue of Understanding Our Education Through Data, which showed that 2,777 primary and secondary schools in 47 countries offered Korean-language education as of late last year.
Among the students, 191,896 were enrolled in Korean-language classes in areas overseen by such centers, up some 50% from 2020.
The number of courses directly run by the centers also shot up from 731 in 2023 to 1,200 last year. A combined 28,751 students also attended such courses last year, with about 90% of them being residents of the host areas.
Around 34,000 students studied the Korean language and culture at the centers, including 5,224 in lifelong education classes such as those on history and culture.
As of April this year, 47 KECs were running in 22 countries for ethnic Koreans and residents. Such facilities support Korean-language courses at primary and secondary schools, trains and guides the professional development of Korean-language teachers, and administers the Test of Proficiency in Korean, aka TOPIK, abroad.
Another 34 Korean international schools in 16 countries provide formal education to Korean nationals living overseas, serving 12,949 students taught by 1,242 full-time teachers.
A ministry official said, "This information is available on the Overseas Koreans Education Portal, an integrated platform for educational data that compiles and shares information and educational content from educational institutions scattered worldwide."
kgh89@korea.kr
