Multicultural award winners suggest solutions for inclusive society
Ministry to consider actions for initiatives amid increasing multicultural households
Winners of the Korea Multicultural Youth Awards proposed expanding bilingual education and intensifying mentoring programs for students with multicultural backgrounds during a meeting with Gender Equality and Family Minister Kim Hyun-sook, Tuesday.
The meeting was hosted by the ministry, aiming to gather insights and improve the social integration of individuals from multicultural households.
“We organized this meeting to listen to the success stories of students who, despite facing more challenges than Korean families in different environments, have become exemplary figures,” Kim said.
The awards were established by The Korea Times in 2012, in order to encourage students from multicultural households, who sometimes experience and have to overcome hardships due to cultural differences and language barriers.
Winners from the fourth to 12th awards emphasized the necessity of expanding bilingual education, pointing out the lack of fluency in bilingualism among students from multicultural backgrounds.
“I think it is a privilege afforded to teenagers from multicultural families, but the students don’t have enough opportunities to utilize their language skills fully or learn more,” said Kim Hae-young, a grand prize winner of the ninth awards.
Born to a Korean father and a Vietnamese mother, she observed the limited opportunities to acquire languages like Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian compared to English, Chinese and Japanese.
She recommended the ministry broaden the reach of bilingual education facilitated by multicultural family centers, which will empower students from multicultural households to leverage their strengths.
Kam Hyo-been, a special award winner at the 11th awards, also stressed the importance of diverse and easily accessible bilingual education.
Born to a Korean father and a Chinese mother, Kam has experience teaching Chinese to friends and teaching Korean to multicultural children. She noted that multicultural families face difficulties adapting to Korean culture due to societal prejudices and institutional distinctions as perceived cultural boundaries.
“It would be beneficial if such education was conducted through more diverse channels, facilitating easier accessibility for students so that they can adapt to Korean society more easily by learning languages,” she said.
The winners also recommended intensifying mentoring programs for students with multicultural backgrounds.
Jeong Hun-do, an awardee of the sixth Korea Multicultural Youth Awards in the high school category, shared his personal experience of overcoming cultural differences, family circumstances and societal discrimination.
“Despite successfully adapting and leading a fulfilling life now, I always thought that having guidance from a mentor with a multicultural background who navigated similar challenges before would have been immensely beneficial during times of difficulty,” he said.
Furthermore, the winners highlighted the importance of educating society, especially targeting Korean parents who have young children, about multicultural households.
Ban Jun-hwi, a grand prize winner of the fifth awards, shared his childhood experience of facing discomfort from friends due to his mother’s nationality. He was born to a Korean father and a Chinese mother.
“The role of parental influence is significant to children, so I hope for an expansion of educational programs focusing on multiculturalism, especially tailored for Korean parents, as the number of multicultural households continues to rise,” he said.
After hearing the suggestions, Kim expressed her commitment to incorporating their insights.
“We will consider immediate actions in areas where convergence is feasible and persist in addressing long-term initiatives based on the feedback,” she said.
Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin conveyed his appreciation for the meeting, which provided an opportunity for the multicultural award winners to share their perspectives.
“I believe Korea should evolve into an open society, welcoming individuals from around the world to coexist and thereby elevate its standing on the global stage,” he said, highlighting the contributions of the winners.