Koreans in Hong Kong - Education

Education

Hong Kong lacks a Korean-medium kindergarten, and so parents often send their children to English-medium kindergartens instead; some continue on to English-medium primary and secondary schools, such as those run by the English Schools Foundation, and as a result speak English better than Korean. Koreans in Hong Kong have also set up Korean-language educational institutions for their children. The Korean Saturday School (한국토요학원) was established in 1960 by the Association of Korean Residents. The territory's one Korean school, the Korean International School, is located in Sai Wan Ho. Founded in 1988, it enrolled 402 students as of 2006. However, they suffered a loss of community confidence due to a bribery scandal which triggered an investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The number of South Korean students in Hong Kong universities has shown significant growth. In 2008, there were only about 40 South Koreans enrolled in Hong Kong universities, primarily the English-medium University of Hong Kong; they formed just 1% of the 4,000 or so tertiary-level international students in the territory at the time. However, along with China's economic rise, South Korean international students are becoming increasingly interested in studying in the country, and Hong Kong universities have taken advantage of this trend to promote the internationalisation of their student bodies. By 2011, there were 595 South Koreans in Hong Kong on student visas, an increase of 644% since MOFAT's 2009 survey. Additionally, an increasing number of South Korean children raised in expatriate families in Hong Kong, who have acquired permanent residence, are choosing to remain in Hong Kong for their university education rather than pursue higher education in South Korea or overseas.

Read more about this topic:  Koreans In Hong Kong

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