Online education startup challenges Korea's legal requirements for foreign teachers

Homepage of the English education startup Ringle [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A legal clause that requires foreigners to have a bachelor's degree or higher to teach students in Korea has become the subject of heated debate between the government and online private education industry.

The feud was ignited last April by an English education startup when it called for a change in the existing law. The startup, named Ringle, provides video chat conversation courses taught by students at prestigious American universities.

Under the current law, hagwon, or private education institutions, undergraduate foreigners can teach only adults. To teach students, the foreign instructor needs at least a bachelor's degree. Korean nationals can teach students from their junior year.

Because this law only applies to local companies, Ringle claims that it is at a disadvantage against overseas-based competitors, who already run video chat classes with undergrads.

"New and existing industries are shackled by Korea's peculiar Galapagos-like regulations," said Hoon Lee, the co-founder of Ringle. "It's regretful to have to consider relocating the company to the United States and give up on our dream to become a unicorn company as a Korean startup."

Lee also claimed laws need to be amended for students who live in provincial cities, where there are few hagwon and hiring a native instructor is difficult.

The number of assistant teachers in Korean schools decreased to 7,150 last year, down some 30 percent from 10,169 in 2019.

The decline was starker in provincial regions. While the number of native English teachers in Seoul over the same period dropped by 8 percent, those in South Chungcheong dropped by 42 percent, North Jeonbuk 53 percent and Ulsan 91 percent.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister created a regulation board composed of civilian experts to review the necessity and validity of the regulation in August, but the board has not convened even once due to the Education Ministry's opposition.

According to the Ministry of Education, the hagwon teacher regulation is a bare minimum regulation to protect students and to prevent underqualified instructors from providing poor-quality education.

"The government's call for easing the regulation is strong, but the ministry, which seeks to enhance the role and function of public education, is wary on steering towards policies that promote private education," said a spokesperson for the Education Ministry.

Ringle argues that it can ensure quality education by hiring undergraduates only from universities above a certain ranking, and that it can remove inadequate classes since all video chat classes can be recorded.

Offline hagwon companies side with the government.

"The standard for and process of selecting competent teachers need to be improved," said Lee Sang-hyub, the chairman of Korea Association of Hakwon's council for foreign language education. "The classroom can turn muddy if regulations are softened."

Parents, on the other hand, side with Ringle, welcoming more educational choice.

"The aversion to remote education has weakened significantly throughout the pandemic," said Choi Mi-sook, president of the parents' group Haksamo. "It's beneficial to have a choice to learn English conversation from talented, well-certified native speakers."

The Government Policy Coordination Office and the Education Ministry are in talks with authorities from hagwon, schools and parent groups to find the middle ground, according to a source in the Coordination Office.

BY LEE GA-RAM [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]