Schools in Sejong to recruit students across the nation
Published: 25 Jan. 2010, 21:05
Special-purpose high schools in Sejong City, including foreign-language and international schools still in the planning stages, will open admissions to students nationwide instead of accepting only those who live within the city limits, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said yesterday.
And in the hope of drawing superior teachers to its schools, teachers working for Sejong’s schools will get unprecedented benefits, including for living conditions.
Sejong, in South Chungcheong, was originally slated to be developed into Korea’s administrative capital. But a recent move by the government to make it a business hub resulted in a revised bill to change the aim.
The government and the ruling Grand National Party announced that they will give public notice on Wednesday that they will submit a revision to the National Assembly regarding development plans for Sejong, including those mentioned above. Upon the announcement, the cabinet will endorse the bill and deliver it to the National Assembly within 20 days.
At the moment, only students applying to one of Korea’s foreign-language high schools are limited to applying to schools in the city or province in which they live. But the government is planning to expand this restriction to all special-purpose high schools.
“Building these top-level high schools early on in Sejong will greatly help gather a population to the city. As top schools rely on the quality of their faculties, we are actively looking into giving numerous benefits to teachers coming to our schools,” said a high-level official at the government planning office for Sejong development who declined to be named.
However, the official added that as the open admission system for Sejong might stir up controversy if it’s deemed an unfair exception, the government plans to limiting this nationwide admission to last only until 2015.
The revision aims to develop Sejong into a science and business hub instead of the planned administrative capital. Korea’s leading conglomerates, including Samsung, Hanwha, Lotte and Woongjin, have agreed to set up operations there.
Also, Korea University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology will be handed one square kilometer (247 acres) of land to run research-oriented undergraduate and graduate courses in Sejong.
The revision bill states that the city’s title will change from “multifunctional administrative city” to “education and science-centered city,” and previously proposed plans to move key government bodies to Sejong will be completely scrapped.
Companies which move to Sejong will be given tax benefits that are equivalent to the terms for other industrialized zones in Korea, including a three-year exemption from paying income and corporate taxes, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan announced the revised plans for Sejong earlier this month. With this, the prime minister’s office announced that an autonomous private high school will be built in Sejong before 2012.
The government added that at least four special-interest schools will be built in Sejong from 2011 to 2013.
By Cho Jae-eun [[email protected]]
And in the hope of drawing superior teachers to its schools, teachers working for Sejong’s schools will get unprecedented benefits, including for living conditions.
Sejong, in South Chungcheong, was originally slated to be developed into Korea’s administrative capital. But a recent move by the government to make it a business hub resulted in a revised bill to change the aim.
The government and the ruling Grand National Party announced that they will give public notice on Wednesday that they will submit a revision to the National Assembly regarding development plans for Sejong, including those mentioned above. Upon the announcement, the cabinet will endorse the bill and deliver it to the National Assembly within 20 days.
At the moment, only students applying to one of Korea’s foreign-language high schools are limited to applying to schools in the city or province in which they live. But the government is planning to expand this restriction to all special-purpose high schools.
“Building these top-level high schools early on in Sejong will greatly help gather a population to the city. As top schools rely on the quality of their faculties, we are actively looking into giving numerous benefits to teachers coming to our schools,” said a high-level official at the government planning office for Sejong development who declined to be named.
However, the official added that as the open admission system for Sejong might stir up controversy if it’s deemed an unfair exception, the government plans to limiting this nationwide admission to last only until 2015.
The revision aims to develop Sejong into a science and business hub instead of the planned administrative capital. Korea’s leading conglomerates, including Samsung, Hanwha, Lotte and Woongjin, have agreed to set up operations there.
Also, Korea University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology will be handed one square kilometer (247 acres) of land to run research-oriented undergraduate and graduate courses in Sejong.
The revision bill states that the city’s title will change from “multifunctional administrative city” to “education and science-centered city,” and previously proposed plans to move key government bodies to Sejong will be completely scrapped.
Companies which move to Sejong will be given tax benefits that are equivalent to the terms for other industrialized zones in Korea, including a three-year exemption from paying income and corporate taxes, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan announced the revised plans for Sejong earlier this month. With this, the prime minister’s office announced that an autonomous private high school will be built in Sejong before 2012.
The government added that at least four special-interest schools will be built in Sejong from 2011 to 2013.
By Cho Jae-eun [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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