By Kang Shin-who

The education authorities will open the nation’s first public high school for children from underprivileged immigrant families in Seoul in March, 2012.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the city’s educational office for the establishment of the school. Students will be admitted for free.

The project was initially proposed by the Presidential Committee on Social Cohesion, which reviews policies for marriage immigrants and their families.

The alternative public school, named “Dasom,” meaning love in Korean, will be built in Jung-gu, central Seoul and provide vocational education to interracial children who have difficulties in attending regular Korean schools.

“We plan to set up more alternative elementary and middle schools for students from multicultural families,” said Jeon Woo-hong, a ministry director.

The school will run six classes for some 200 students in need of receiving technical training for future employment such as electronic or electric machines, fashion design, cooking, computers, and fashion design.

Children will also learn Korean language and culture so they can adapt to Korean life and customs.

There were a total of 42,676 school-age children from immigrant families in Korea last year. About 7,360 or 17.2 percent of them were not enrolled in or quit schools due to fear of being ostracized, language barriers, lack of understanding of Korean culture or economic difficulties.

The ministry has introduced a variety of educational programs and some alternative schools for children from multicultural families. However, it is the first time for the government to build an alternative school, exclusively for these children.

Korea has many international schools, crowded with many Korean students, but the English-speaking schools annually charge more than 20 million won ($17,346).

The education ministry will cover the construction costs and Seoul City will provide scholarships for all students. The city’s education office will come up with guidelines for admission criteria.