Hwang transfered her nine-year-old son Alex from a Korean school to an international school last year Seoul, South Korea — South Korea has banned English l
Hwang transfered her nine-year-old son Alex from a Korean school to an international school last year [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]
Seoul, South Korea – South Korea has banned English language classes for first- and second-grade students in elementary schools to “minimise negative effects of early English education practices”.
The ban, which came into effect on Thursday, is part of a policy that, the government says, is in line with a Constitutional Court ruling in 2016 that said teaching English may hinder the students’ proficiency in Korean.
“According to many English education experts and neuroscientists, the right age for learning English as a second language is the third grade,” Kwon Ji-young, director of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy Division and the Ministry of Education, told Al Jazeera.
“Starting second-language education at preschool is too early. Before that, social skills and cognitive development should take place. A lot of parents think earlier the better when it comes to learning a second language.”
In Korea, kindergartens that conduct English classes are not officially registered as pre-schools but operate as private academies.
Although expensive, the growing demand for early English education has made these outlets very popular among parents who can afford them.
Korea’s annual household income per capita is $15,335. Some of these outlets charge more than $1,500 per month.
The ban, which will also see around 7,000 teachers lose their jobs, will create a further divide with children from low-income families set to miss out in a highly competitive society, say experts.
“If, after the second grade, you compare the ones who received private English lessons with the ones who didn’t, the difference will be huge.
