The government has decided to impose harsher penalties on foreign schools where fraudulent admissions have been detected within the last three years. Until now, administrative penalties were imposed on foreign schools based on the number of fraudulent admissions, but there was no specific period. Additionally, regulations related to renting foreign school sites and facilities will be eased.
The Ministry of Education noted that during a cabinet meeting on 1st, it has reviewed and approved a partial amendment bill to the 'Regulations on the establishment and operation of foreign schools and foreign kindergartens.'
Accordingly, the criteria for administrative penalties regarding fraudulent admissions in foreign schools will be clarified. Currently, if a foreign school is found to have one instance of fraudulent admission, it will be prohibited from recruiting local students for 6 to 12 months. For two instances, the prohibition extends to 12 to 24 months, and for three instances, the prohibition is for 24 to 36 months. For four or more instances, the school will be prohibited from recruiting local students for 10 years.
While there were criteria for administrative penalties based on the number of instances of fraudulent admissions, there were no established guidelines for the period of harsher penalties. Since there was no separate period, it was pointed out that applying the number of instances from the time of establishment could lead to unreasonable harsher penalties. Thus, the government has decided to set the last three years as the period for applying harsher penalties.
Furthermore, the government has decided to expand the range of permitted rent for the sites and facilities of foreign schools and kindergartens. Previously, it was limited to the properties of the state, local governments, and foreign governments. The amendment includes 'the properties of state or local government investment or grant institutions, public corporations, school corporations, and public corporations.'
In addition, to prevent the degradation of school operational stability and infringement on students' learning rights due to short-term rental contracts, a minimum rental period will be established in local education regulations.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Joo-ho said, “With this amendment of the regulations, consistency and reliability of administrative penalties for foreign schools will be enhanced,” and added, “We expect that the flexibility in securing sites and facilities will also improve the educational conditions for foreign children.”