Pinoy students studying in Korea increase
The number of Filipinos pursuing college and postgraduate degrees in South Korea has increased. In 2013, there were 475 Filipinos who studied college or higher education in South Korea, an increase of 67 percent from 318 in 2008, according to figures from the Korean Immigration Service as cited by the ASEAN-Korea Centre in Seoul.
The center said in 1980, there were no Filipino college students in South Korea. By 1990, there were five and this increased to 37 in 2000 and 131 in 2005.
On the other hand, 50 percent of Koreans who study in ASEAN countries go to the Philippines, according to Yohan Lee of the Southeast Asia Research Center at the Seoul National University (SNU) but did not cite figures.
There were 2,655 Koreans who were granted student visas and took up college in the Philippines in 2013, according to the Bureau of Immigration.
Among the Pinoy studying postgraduate degrees in South Korea are Maria Lynette Callanta, who graduated in 2012 with a Social Science degree from the University of the Philippines (UP)-Manila and Rey Evince Valencia, who earned his Accountancy degree from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2008.
The two are postgraduate scholars at SNU, Korea’s No. 1 university which ranked 36th in the QS World University Rankings for 2015-2016, and 85th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2015-2016.
Callanta, 24, told Manila Bulletin that she is currently enrolled at the SNU Graduate School of International Studies and expect to finish in August next year.
She was awarded the Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) under the Graduate Program in 2013.
Before enrolling at SNU, she took eight months of Korean language program in Busan, South Korea as a requirement.
After finishing her Korean studies, Callanta said, “I’m planning to take my PhD in the US but still concentrate on East Asia.”
Valencia, 28, is a scholar under a grant by the Korea Power Electric Corp. (KEPCO). He started at the SNU Graduate School of Public Administration in August, 2014 for a 16-month study that will end in December this year.
“Maganda ang turo,” he said of the SNU’s education.
He said the language barrier became a challenge at the start as “we are not required to learn Korean.”
Valencia gradually got accustomed to the pace and environment at SNU.
After finishing his studies, he will continue his work at the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) in the Philippines.
He is also planning to take his PhD and by the end of PSALM’s corporate life in 2016, “I’m planning to work in the academe.”