See section 1.2 of the mainstream Korea Archive in addition.
Historical background
Special education in the modern sense was begun in Korea by an American missionary (R S Hall) who established a school for the blind in 1894. Similar projects to educate the handicapped were undertaken during the following decades by a number of social and charitable organisations. Schools for the blind were nationalised in 1945 and incorporated secondary courses in 1947. The first special teacher training course was opened in 1950.1
Legislation
Education laws in Korea provide that one or more special schools for handicapped children should be established in each province or 'special city'. (Provinces and special cities are the administrative regions into which the country is broken down; each has boards of education.)5
Provision is, however, not exclusive to special schools. Only students with severe special needs are catered for in special schools. Others are enrolled in special classes in normal schools or receive integrated education in normal, mainstream school classes.13,4
Special education in Korea is based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Law1 and the Special Education Promotion Act 2 . The latter was enacted in 1977 and completely revised and promulgated in 1994. It emphasises the early introduction of many methods to teach the handicapped and guarantees children with special needs the right to attend schools10,9
Recently, several policies have been introduced to improve the circumstances of special education. Since 1988, in-service teacher training programmes in special education have been offered to teachers, and teacher training colleges also offer initial teacher training courses in special education. The 1994 revision of the Special Education Promotion Bill also provided a legal basis for the early education of children with special educational needs in mainstream kindergarten classes. Various benefits and incentives are offered to those kindergartens which meet the requirements of the Bill. This Bill also requires kindergartens to offer teachers lectures or special training courses on special education.13,4
A law to promote the employment of those with special educational needs has also recently been enacted as public interest in their education grows.13,4
Special education development plan 2003-2007
In early 2003, the Ministry of Education in Korea announced that, from 2007, all children with special educational needs will receive free education from kindergarten to upper secondary school. It is planned to integrate as many as possible of such children into mainstream education in pursuit of so-called unified education. In preparation:
See section 1.2.2 of the mainstream Korea Archive.