hankyoreh

Local governments in South Korea are stepping up their efforts to support multicultural families, as a growing number of Korean men are getting married to foreign women. Regional governments so far have offered short-term Korean language classes and cultural educational programs, but they have recently broadened their efforts to help newcomers find employment and offering support the educational costs for their children.

Gwangyang City in South Jeolla Province is considering an act to help international families by giving aid for their children's education. Under the new regulation, the government will give a subsidy of 158,000-300,000 won a month to the female immigrants whose children attend a kindergarten or a nursery.

In addition to this educational stipend, whenever a Gwangyang male marries a foreign woman, the city will offer a subsidy of 3 million won (3,160 USD) for their wedding.

Gokseong County in South Jeolla Province and Chonnam National University's Language Education Center organized a joint lecture on how immigrants to Korea can teach English. Twenty-seven Filippino immigrants took part in the lecture. Three out of these 27 participants went on to teach English to students at an English camp, and another three have been hired by an English camp later in August. The county plans to help all of those trained to work as assistant teachers at primary and secondary schools, according to a county official.

The Damyang County office helped six female Filippinos get employment at 14 elementary schools in the region. These women are teaching English conversation to elementary school children for 10 hours a week at two schools, receiving an average of 35,000 won an hour.

As of the end of January, the number of children born to foreign women in North and South Jeolla provinces was 3,064. By age, those children aged one to five number 1,752, the number of those aged six to 12 is 1,134, there are 121 of those 13 to 18, and 58 children born to foreign women there are 19 or older.