About 30 education leaders from 22 primary and secondary school are heading to Korea next month to attend the Tauranga Korean Times education fairs in Seoul and Busan.

Tauranga Korean Times director Hyun Taek Yang says he is really happy more than 22 schools were visiting Korea again this year.

“I have had lots of interest from Korea, and I look forward to another good delegations fair.”

On August 24 and 25, they will be holding a fair in Seoul to promote Tauranga schooling to Korea.

Hyun is expecting to meet more than 200 families at the fair.

This will be the programme’s 13th year, having started in 2010 and missing a year during Covid times.

Parent’s experience

Only one parent is allowed to join the student to come to New Zealand for visa reasons making it a tough decision and a huge commitment for the families involved.

Sung Ae Kim brought her son Ari Eunoh Gho over to New Zealand for this programme to start intermediate school six months ago.

“It was a big decision because separated from the family because New Zealand doesn’t allow the student to come with both parents. Just one guardian is allowed to come here and stay with the kid.”

Sung Ae and her husband decided he would stay in Korea. “My husband has a more stable job. One person still has to make money.”

She says she had to keep the news about the education experience secret and only told her son when it was time to go.

“At the time he was in fifth grade. Korean elementary school has grades one to six. He was expected to go to sixth grade and then after sixth grade they all go together with their friends to middle school. He was expecting that. But I said we have to go to New Zealand.”

Sung Ae says her son Ari said, “I don’t want to because I don’t want to part with my friends. I want to go to middle school with my friends.”

“He was crying,” she says. “I persuaded him, ‘we go just maybe six months to one year’.

“Everybody said when they come here they don’t want to leave after six months or one year because they feel like this is like heaven.

“I just said ‘you can stay just six months to one year, but if you want to stay more, we can stay more’.”

She says he now wants to stay longer.

“My son is now Year 7, so intermediate school, that’s why we planned [to be here] for two years because when we came here, he had just started intermediate school.”

She says they decided to come to Tauranga for many reasons, including the beautiful weather and the friendly people.

“He loves the sports,” she explains that New Zealand is the best place for sports and for Ari to play as many sports as he likes.

Learning English

“That’s a big reason because we came here to learn English, that’s the goal, it’s the most important goal for my son.”

Sung Ae explains that in Tauranga they allow just one Korean student per class. This allows the student to experience full immersion and refrain from using the Korean language as the rest of the class will be speaking English.

Sung Ae’s son Ari was born in the US. “He is a citizen, but he cannot speak English because we moved very early when he was a 1-year-old to Korea.”

The Korean students have extra English classes after school as part of the programme. Sung Ae says this helps and his teachers are saying his English is getting better.

Tauranga Korea Times agency

Tauranga Korea Times is very different to other academic agencies, she explains. “Here they provide everything from start to end.”

TKT supports the families from before they come to New Zealand and continues to stay in touch well after they return to Korea.

This is hugely helpful, especially for parents who don’t speak English very well - they have someone they can go to for help with anything.

“I can speak English a little bit, so I’m not afraid about living outside of Korea but most Korean parents are very nervous.”

Sung Ae says the TKT provides interpreters to help with anything the parents need, “even shopping for the first time”.

“They teach you how to drive,” she says. In Korea they drive on the right-hand side.

Sung Ae spoke with TKT director Hyun Taek Yang before coming to New Zealand. She says he explained everything and even found a house and a realtor.

TKT helps the families to find homes, cars and even jobs to help get them on their feet before the children start school.

“My son, last month he injured his leg during skateboarding. I went to the hospital and they came, the TKT came.

“Without my husband I was quite nervous. I was panicking.”

Impact on Tauranga schools

Tauranga Korean Times goes to Korea every year to promote the Bay’s education with international directors from Tauranga schools.

Tauranga Korean Times director Hyun Taek Yang (left), co-director Olive Fitzjohn, Greenpark school international director Lynne Mossop, Tauranga Boys’ College international director Annette Roff and Mount Maunganui Primary School international director Damien Harris. Photo: Ayla Yeoman

“We’re both international directors and we’ve worked with the Korean Times since it started,” says Annette Roff from Tauranga Boys’ College about herself and Lynne Mossop from Greenpark School.

“We fully support what they’re doing for us at schools in Korea,” says Annette. “We wouldn’t have the numbers that we have of Korean students in our schools without the support of the Korea Times.”

Annette says TKT is well known in Korea and Tauranga City is therefore well known in Korea, particularly Seoul, where they hold their promotional fairs.

TKT and the international directors from Tauranga schools go to Korea to meet with families, build relationships and promote Tauranga education.

“It’s nice for families to meet us in person,” says Lynne. “It makes their decision making a lot easier when they actually meet someone and form that relationship so that they know where they’re coming and we can give them a lot of background information about our schools, about Tauranga, and about the education system.

“The key for us with this agency is that we all work collaboratively so we’re not in competition.

“Every school offers something different: some might be by the beach, some might offer arts or music.”

Lynne says the agency doesn’t make the decision about what school each student will go to, the Korean families make the decision.

“It doesn’t worry us which school they go to because number one is we want them to come to New Zealand and then number two to our city.

“They’re quick learners. Our teachers really love having them in the class because whatever you put into them, you get out. They quickly learn English.

“It’s not hard having a Korean student in your class, it’s really rewarding.

“The education system is so much better here than it is in Korea.

“In Korea the classes are so big, there’s competition and the learning styles in New Zealand are more collaborative.”

“In Korea you just get what they give you,” says Mount Maunganui Primary school international director Damien Harris. “They stick to the textbook, whereas in New Zealand it is individualised and targeted teaching.

“In high school, the reason why we like to have international students is because a lot of our students will never get to go overseas. They get to experience different cultures within our city.”

Korean culture is growing in popularity in New Zealand with K-Pop, K-drama and Korean food trending, particularly with the younger generations, says director Hyun. “We’re helping to build cultural relationships.”

Impact on Tauranga City

“We started this in 2010,” says director Hyun Tael Yung. “There are 107 Korean families with 230 international students.

“The aim of this programme is for Korean students to come to Tauranga and learn English while embracing a different culture and way of life.

“The boss of the Tauranga education agency hopes to double the number of international students arriving from Korea next year.

“Our numbers are going back to normal prior to Covid times,” says Hyun, adding that more support is needed to build its international student numbers up to what they were pre-Covid.

“I expect that at the beginning of next year, we can get to normal numbers that we were prior to Covid. That means 150 families with 200 students. That is the goal we are aiming for next year.”

The programme not only supports international students and encourages more international students to study in Tauranga, but it also contributes to the city’s economy

“There are families spending around $150,000 per year and there are more than 100 families. So, they are contributing around $15 million every year to the city and they usually stay 2-3 years.”

Support for families

When asked why it is so important for Korean students to be coming to Tauranga specifically, as they have programmes like this in Auckland, Annette says it’s mainly because of TKT and their dedication to support Korean families.

“The Korean Times are so supportive of the families, they help them to find houses and cars. There is so much support within their agency.

“The mums give up a lot to come here,” says Annette. Korean Times makes this transition easier for the families. She explains that Korean Times make sure each family gets everything they need.

“It’s a nice place to live, there’s infrastructure there for them, it’s safe, secure and they are well provided for,” says Lynne.

“We wouldn’t be successful as schools without the support of the Korean Times,” says Annette.

Lynne says that when they go to Korea they meet with the past families. “We’re a really big family, there’s huge connections.

“When we get there it’s such a special time because we meet up with the dads and the dads come to find out how well their kids are doing in class. They value education and they know that the students are going to gain a lot more than being in Korea.”

TKT provides all kinds of services and care. There’s after-school care, tutoring, sports clubs and trips during the holidays.

“The agency provides 24/7 care, if someone is sick and needs to go to the hospital, these guys do it, if someone has a car accident and they need help, these guys do it,” says Annette.

“We’ve even done plumbing and catching mice,” says co-director Olive Fitzjohn.

“We’ve just had a meeting, Olive and I, with a mum who’s come over from Korea and she’s wanting to know how her son’s going with pathways to university,” says Annette. “So the agency does all of that as well.”

“It’s an ongoing care really,” says Damien.

“I don’t think you’d find another agency in New Zealand that would give the support that the Tauranga Korean Times give. They give the whole package,” says Annette.

- SunLive