S. Korea practical Englsih teachers fail to show up(53214)-英语教育-(171)-21英语网

本文作者： 21ST

韩国:中小学英语教师招聘遇冷

据《韩国时报》报道，由政府发起的中小学英语教师招聘计划未能在社会中引起强烈反响。目前，16个省市教育部门之中的9个已宣布应聘人数不足。据悉，政府希望通过该计划招募高水平英语教师，提高学生的语言实际运用能力。

SOUTH Korean education authorities have failed to attract enough applicants for the government's “Practical English Instructors” project. According to the country's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, nine of the 16 city and provincial education offices are suffering from a shortage of applicants, The Korea Times has reported.

The Lee Myung-bak administration plans to recruit about 10,000 special lecturers for conversational English classes at public schools over the next two years, in order to improve students' practical English skills and cut private education costs. The instructors, who will use only English in class, are expected to replace native English speakers in the long term.

Taken as a whole, the South Korean government appears to have succeeded in its recruitment drive. There were 4,543 applications for 4,228 jobs this year — 1,963 at elementary schools and 2,265 at secondary schools. But on closer inspection, the data showed that nine regional education offices were unable to attract enough applicants. For instance, North Chungcheong had 113 applicants, filling its recruitment quota, but North Gyeongbuk received only 204 for its 274 posts. In South Jeolla, just 170 applied for the 208 posts on offer in the province. Additionally, applications for posts at secondary schools fell short by some 200.

The ministry admitted that the shortage was due to the program's lack of promotion. “Those who don't have teaching licenses can apply for a job, but it seems that many didn't know about it. Also, many teacher hopefuls with teaching licenses didn't apply for the lecturer jobs because they are preparing for exams for regular teacher positions due in October,'' a ministry official said.

According to the ministry, successful candidates will be announced in August for work in the autumn semester. They will be responsible for additional English class time at elementary and secondary schools. Another 5,000 lecturers are to be recruited next year.