PRESS RELEASE

Korean Cultural Center Donates Books to DepEd SPFL-Korea Partner Schools

King Sejong Institute and Korean Embassy, through the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC), delivered the donated Korean language textbooks and educational materials to 10 national high schools in Metro Manila that are part of SPFL-Korean language program of Department of Education (DepEd).

The donation ceremony was held at Las Piñas National High School last June 25, 2018. Director Lee Jincheol of KCC, Patricia Santos, SPFL-Korea Coordinator, Phondora S. Capistrano, Principal of Las Piñas National High School, teachers who will teach the Korean language and students joined the ceremony.

Part of the donated educational materials include 370 textbooks, 10 workbooks and 10 e-learning materials which will be used in the Korean Language Classes in the schools namely, Las Piñas National High School, Jose Abad Santos High School, Kalayaan High School, Pasay City National Science High School, San Bartolome High School, North Fairview High School, Maligaya High School, Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School, Lagro High School, and Makati High School.

During the ceremony, Eirish Zulueta, a teacher who recently completed the Korean Teacher Training course conducted by KCC, explained the Korean language curriculum during the ceremony.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines and the Department of Education (DEpEd) signed the Special Program in Foreign Language- Korea (SPFL-Korea) agreement on June 21, 2017, that allowed DepEd to teach the Korean language in public high schools. The Korean language education training for local high school teachers in the Philippines began last year at the KCC, and the King Sejong Institute in Korea has dispatched Korean teachers to the Philippines to teach the language.

The first batch of 16 teachers from the 10 NCR SPFL-Korea partner schools of SPFL-Korea finished their training and immersion program last May 2018. The teachers will begin teaching the Korean Language at the start of the next school year which is on last week of June.

“This donation ceremony is not only for the delivery of Korean textbooks and educational contents but also for promoting the standard way of teaching the Korean language. I look forward to seeing the passionate lectures of the teachers in the Philippines,” Director Lee Jincheol, the director of KCC and KCC - King Sejong Institute in the Philippines said.

At present, the first batch of SPFL-Korea teachers undergoes professional development classes in KCC every Friday from June 8 to Dec 14, 2018, while the second batch of the teachers began their training last June 7 which will last until March 2, 2019. After their training, a cultural immersion program in Korea for the selected teachers is also set to enhance further the teachers’ knowledge of teaching practices in the Korean language.

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