Unqualified foreign students banned from scholarship

The government has sent official notification to Korean embassies around the world mandating them to scrap their customary practice of picking "unqualified" students for the state scholarship program.

The government has often accepted children of foreign ranking government officials even though they fall short of the minimum standards, a practice believed to help "boost" long-term relations between Korea and other countries

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday it has ordered Korean embassies around the world not to recommend foreign students whose average score is lower than 80 percent out of 100 in standardized tests.

Lee Eun-chul, director of the ministry's Cultural Cooperation Division, told The Korea Times: "The ministry sent official documents to all Korean embassies abroad last Friday stipulating that they should not recommend unqualified students."

The ministry's decision came after The Korea Times' reports (April 29 and 30 editions) raised questions on transparency and fairness of the state scholarship program. The program is offered in some 120 countries around the world.

According to the National Institute for International Education (NIIED), the main agency overseeing the scholarship program, 504 students were selected last year ― 147 undergraduates and 357 graduates.

However, it noted that 44 students ― 12 undergraduates from six countries and 32 graduates from 20 countries ― failed to meet the program criteria, but were offered scholarships after embassies attached "excuse letters" to their school records..

"We made it clear that each embassy should not recommend students who fall short of the criteria," Lee said.

With the aim of making state scholarships a Korean branding project similar to the Fulbright Program, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has this year integrated them into the "Global Korea Scholarship" project, which has a budget of 51.5 billion won ($46.6 million). This year, the ministry plans to select 700 students.

"We will improve the quality of the program and unfair practices will no longer be tolerated," said Song Ki-dong, director general of the ministry's International Cooperation Strategy Team.

The ministry has also introduced proposals to deal with problems facing government-invited students, who have difficulty in keeping up with their studies here.

From this year, the scholarship students have to reach grade three ― out of six ― in the Test of Proficiency in Korean after Korean language training courses, otherwise they will not be allowed to enroll in school.