As multi-cultural families have increased in Korean society, the education of their second generations has become a serious problem. The multi-cultural families whose children go to Korean schools are growing quickly every year. However, most of them quit school because of maladjustment to Korean culture, the language barrier or bullying caused by different appearances.
According to the result of the last assembly audit, 6,089 out of 24,867 school-age children in multi-cultural families don't go to school. These days, the government has supported a few programs such as one on one mentoring and after-school programs on Korean language, but the students still have difficulty in learning. This reveals that the current education system can't support them enough.
The educational problems exist at public institutions. The survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed the worrisome conditions of studying Korean language. For about six out of ten students, it took more time, nearly 6 months, to learn the Korean language than their Korean peers did. This shows that Korean language education is not sufficient for the students.
Moreover, the incumbent teachers' understanding about the students is insufficient because the teachers are not used to educating them. In this difficult situation, it is inadequate for the teachers to offer individual consultations or to give extracurricular teaching to the students.
A shortfall of support at the government level, besides the above issues is also a problem. Most of the students in multi-cultural families are in need financially, legally, and socially. Moreover, they are not well protected by law and they don't know how to keep their rights. Also, support policies are not properly arranged for the students who urgently need help.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology regards multi-cultural families as international marriages' and foreign workers' families. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security doesn't recognize foreign workers' families as multi-cultural families. As each government-affiliated organization defines a multi-cultural family differently, figuring out the present conditions of the students is a confusing job. It is especially difficult to understand the present conditions of preschoolers in multi-cultural families, so supporting their education is inevitably limited. Though some non-governmental organizations have voluntarily made an effort to help their education, it is still not enough. The government should realize their difficulty and try to ensure the rights to have a proper education for them.