Education News - International School News
Wednesday, 07 January 2009 14:44 Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 January 2009 17:36
International School to be built in Seoul’s Seocho area
The Seoul city government has announced that it has tentatively selected London-based Dulwich College to run an international school in Seocho District, southern Seoul, in 2010.
Seoul officials said a committee of foreign community leaders and international school officials gave the highest scores to Dulwich among four bidders for the school.
British International School was given the second highest score, and if negotiations with Dulwich College break down, BIS will be given a chance to discuss the establishment of the school. Dulwich College, headquartered in suburban London, runs international schools in China in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou.
The principal campus of Dulwich was founded in 1619 and around 1,400 students attend the school at present. Dulwich hopes to complete negotiations early next year and start building the school in June. When it opens in August 2010, the school will accommodate 500 elementary and kindergarten students.
The school site is located in Banpo-dong, Seocho District, near Gyeseong Elementary School. Seoul will lease the land at a low cost.
Children of foreign businesspeople will be given admission priority. Annual tuition will be decided around 20 million won ($14,000), according to city officials. “There are an insufficient number of good international schools in Seoul for foreign residents,” said Chang Young-min, head of the global support team at Seoul Metropolitan Government.
“Because of that, foreign residents often send their children to international schools in neighboring countries like China.”
Chang also said there are 21 international schools in Seoul, but only five of them are situated in southern Seoul. That created the need for a new school there, he said.
The Banpo international school is part of Seoul’s efforts to make the city more foreigner-friendly in order to attract investors.
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