First good citizenship forum starts on Friday

The JoongAng Ilbo Institute of Character Education and Kyung Hee Cyber University will jointly host a forum on global citizenship education next Friday at the school’s campus in Deongdaemun District, eastern Seoul.

Panelists from Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica), the World Federation of United Nations Associations (Wfuna), the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and Seoul National University, among others, will take part in discussing the significance and roles that global citizenship and character education hold today.

The National Assembly passed a so-called character education promotion act late last year that requires all local kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools to teach students how to develop “humane character and capabilities” in class.

Approved by a unanimous vote, lawmakers cited the April 16, 2014, Sewol ferry tragedy as the key motivation behind the new policy. In the Sewol tragedy, the captain and some crew members abandoned the ship leaving more than 300 passengers inside, most of whom eventually died.

The forum will be held from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Kyung Hee University’s main building, in the conference room on the second floor.

For participation, log on to http://bit.ly/1M9AFZ2. For further information, contact Kyung Hee Cyber University at 02-3299-8882 or email cooperation@khcu.ac.kr.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]