Education Destination
A recent survey has shown that the students and parents of international schools in the Jeju Global Education City (JGEC) are satisfied with them.
There are three major international schools on Jeju Island: North London Collegiate School Jeju, Branksome Hall Asia, and Korea International School Jeju. According to a survey of 484 registered students and 523 parents of international schools in the JGEC conducted by the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) from November to December last year, 65 percent of the respondents said that they are satisfied with their schools. In particular, 45 percent of the parents said that they would send their children abroad for education if there were no international schools in Jeju.
The JGEC was established in order to substitute and absorb students studying abroad, keep down the outflow of foreign currency, and settle social issues, including “goose fathers”, which means fathers that are left alone to work in Korea while the rest of his family lives abroad for education. The JDC explained that the project is now proceeding well in accordance with the initial purpose and the goal of the city.
Also, considering the fact that the costs for students and their families to live and study abroad reach 70 million won (US$63,653.72) per person a year, the international schools in Jeju have saved about 183.1 billion won (US$166.5 million) from leaving the country for 4 years after foundation; 62.7 billion won (US$57.02 million) last year alone.
As 32 percent of the enrolled students responded that they have been in regular schools in other countries, it has shown that the Jeju international schools are attracting and absorbing students who would otherwise be studying abroad.
The most popular reasons for choosing international schools in Jeju instead of other places in the country were “the admission system that local residents can enter” (30 percent) and “the education credentials system at home and abroad” (30 percent). It showed that the differentiated system in Jeju played a big part.
About 86 percent of the parents in the survey said that the JGEC has a positive effect on the image of Jeju Island.