Students arrive for North Gyeongsang's new international admissions track

K-campus

Published: 21 Feb. 2024, 16:45

Students arrive for North Gyeongsang's new international admissions track

Students make an oath during the orientation hosted by the North Gyeongsang Office of Education on Tuesday. [NORTH GYEONGSANG OFFICE OF EDUCATION]

The first batch of students accepted to vocational high schools in North Gyeongsang through the new international admissions track will be starting school this March.

A total of 48 international students who will attend vocational high schools in North Gyeongsang gathered for an orientation ceremony on Tuesday.

Vocational schools in North Gyeongsang to host international students

The students will attend eight high schools in the region, such as Korea Marine Meister High School, Uiseong Unitech High School and Silla Technical High School starting this March. They will be staying in the high school's dorms.

This is the first time international students directly coming from abroad — not children of multicultural families and immigrant families already in Korea that do not require additional visas — were admitted to vocational high schools in Korea.

To do so, North Gyeongsang Office of Education announced in July last year that it will create an international admissions track for foreign students.

Among the 48 students that attended the orientation, 28 are from Vietnam, eight are from Mongolia and Thailand and another four are from Indonesia.

The students will be attending a series of classes that teach them Korean, and introduce them to Korean culture and school systems until Feb. 28.

The education office also designated guardians who can help students during their stay in Korea.

There are another eight students — seven from Vietnam and one from Cambodia — set to attend Gimcheon High School, also in North Gyeongsang, starting in March.

However, they weren't able to attend the orientation as they were scheduled to arrive late, due to the high school having different admissions procedures.

According to the education office, the 48 students currently in Korea applied to early admissions high schools that accept applications between October and December.

Late admissions high schools, which Gimcheon High School falls under, start applications around December. The students who applied to those schools were initially scheduled to enter Korea around late February.

"We will spare no effort to provide international students with financial and administrative support, emphasizing the expertise that North Gyeongsang's vocational education has to offer," said Lim Jong-sik, superintendent of the North Gyeongsang Office of Education.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]