Top private U.K. school breaks ground on Jeju

A leading U.K. private school broke ground on Wednesday in Jeju Global Education City, a Korean government-led project meant to turn the island into a leading English education hub in Asia.

The Jeju Free International City Development Center held the ground-breaking ceremony for NLCS-Jeju, the Korean branch of North London Collegiate School, a top private school in the United Kingdom. 

The 160-year-old NLCS last year was ranked tops among British International Baccalaureate schools. 

Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Chung Jong-hwan, Jeju Governor Woo Keun-min and other official participated in the ceremony held in Daejeong-eup, Seoguipo-si. 

NLCS chairperson Helen Stone and NLCS-Jeju principal Peter Daly, were also present.

The campus is to open next September along with the public Jeju International School to incorporate a total of 568 students. 

Unlike its mother branch in London, which is a girls’ school, NLCS-Jeju will incorporate boys and girls from grade 4 - 12. 

Senior students will be provided with a co-educational program based on the IB system, widely used in admission evaluations by universities worldwide. 

The school, with a capacity for 1,388 students, has facilities including an indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, concert hall and a large dormitory. 

NLCS-Jeju’s target tuition and living expenses would be similar to or a little bit higher than those required to study in Southeast Asia or half those in the U.K or in the U.S.

Following the two pioneer schools, a total of 12 international schools are to open doors in the education city by year 2015, according to officials.

The city is a grand educational plan by the Korean government to embrace the ever-rising number of students moving abroad to learn English and benefit from global education systems.

Korea spends about $16 billion annually on private English education and some 27,349 underage students were studying abroad in 2008, according to the Samsung Economic Research Institute.

The full activation of the Jeju Global Education City is expected to save the nation annual costs of 324 million ($276,923) to 540 million won and also draw foreign currency, according to the Woori Bank consulting team.