More Korean teachers for English classes

More Korean teachers will be teaching English conversation in middle and high schools in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Tuesday that it will gradually increase the number of Korean teachers in English conversation classes at public schools while gradually reducing the number of native foreigners.

The plan comes as part of a five-year plan designed to rationalize English education in public schools for greater effectiveness, it said.

“We plan to increase the number of Korean teachers who are qualified in TEE (Teaching English in English). We will continue to boost programs to train more Korean teachers to conduct classes in English. Their expertise will be as good as those of foreign natives’,” said Son Woong, director of education policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Son said the education office will additionally recruit 95 teachers for middle schools and 553 more for high schools by 2014. However, the education office was not specific about the reduction in the number of foreign English teachers.

Under the latest steps to boost English education in public schools in Seoul, students will learn English in smaller classes for more active interaction between students and teachers.

“Middle and high schools will divide English classes for freshmen into various levels. This is because it is mostly freshmen who feel the biggest gap from their peers in terms of English proficiency,” said Son.

“So when students enter middle and high schools, they can now take English classes that are applicable for their level. We think Korean teachers may be better trained in structuring classes according to what the students need.”

The education office said it will reduce the number of students in each English class to fewer than 20, which in turn would create more classes that would be customized to better fit the students’ varying abilities.

Coincidentally, the office plans to invest more on teaching facilities. It plans to create 100 more classrooms in middle schools and 543 more in high schools. They will also be half the size of existing classrooms.

“The smaller classrooms will encourage students to interact more easily with each other and provide more opportunities to speak. The ultimate effect we expect from this measure is to minimize the underachievement of students,” the director said.