With the number of multicultural families steadily on the rise with the increase in international marriages, the Korean government established and enacted the multicultural family support law in 2008 and provinces and municipalities also followed suit...
With the number of multicultural families steadily on the rise with the increase in international marriages, the Korean government established and enacted the multicultural family support law in 2008 and provinces and municipalities also followed suit by establishing and enacting the related ordinances. To help their settlement into the Korean society, the central government and local governments have taken initiative in providing services to help marriage immigrants by adopting policies and implementing projects with specific support schemes including Korean language education programs, financial support subsidies and social welfare services, and more.
However, lack of attention and support towards the multicultural families often lead to social discriminatory issues as they often find it hard to communicate with members of the community due to differences of language and culture. In addition, many multicultural families often suffer from financial hardship and their children often struggle to adapt to school life.
As of late 2013, the number of foreigners living in Chungcheongnam-do totaled at 75,438 and amongst them, 7,905 were marriage immigrants. The number of children from the multicultural families stood at 11,863.
Chungcheongnam-do is providing a wide range of support programs and services to help stable settlement of multicultural families into the Korean community. As part of efforts, multicultural centers provide multicultural families various support services including education programs and engagement activities. To help their children grow as a well-rounded member of the society, there are reading and study programs through the global children centers, after-school activities and tuition subsidies. A certified course for multicultural family consultants, support services and interpretation/translation services are also available for stable settlement of multicultural families. For marriage immigrants, employment services via local municipalities and the job training courses for certificates including IT are available. In order to help them engage with local people, some engagement activities and multicultural festivals are also hosted for the benefit of mutual understanding and harmonious acceptance.
Although there are many support services for multicultural families, there has been some limits to institutionalize related policies. Even though many ministries at the central level and local municipalities have offered somewhat similar support services for multicultural families, related policy making has not been unified yet. With this regard, there have been some problems as in inefficient, redundant budget spending.
Although the employment rate of female marriage immigrants has been currently on the rise, their jobs are often limited to simple day works and manual tasks with poor working conditions.
There are also lack of childcare support services. With the expansion of multicultural families, the number of children of multicultural families are on the rise but they often find themselves less motivated in learning and socializing. It is reflected in the lower rate of their education advancement compared with the average students as there are more cases of dropouts.
Although there are many social integration initiatives, members of multicultural families often find themselves in the sting of discrimination. According to the 2009-2012 survey on the status of multicultural families, there was an 4.9 percent increase of those who ed to experience social discrimination and stigmatization.
On the other hand, personnel in multicultural family support centers and related organizations often find themselves in poor working conditions as well as in lack of job security and pride. With this, there has been the growing difficulty of finding suitable staff and solving the shortage of skilled personnel for multicultural family support centers and related organizations.
Therefore, Chungcheongnam-do, first of all, should enhance its support for multicultural families by establishing well-rounded relevant policies. By associating the ministries at the central level with local governments, efficient, customized services in accordance to each nation and region should be provided.
Second, Chungcheongnam-do should allocate more budget to help multicultural families to seek employment and self-reliance by developing training programs and other competence enhancement programs. Upon the completion of the provided courses or programs, a head of a multicultural family can be also allowed to receive services for job application and recruitment.
Third, support policies and programs for children of multicultural families should be expanded. The systematic approaches in line with child development should be put into consideration. By helping settlement of children from multicultural families, they can adapt easily to school and take pride in inheriting multicultural background from their parents. Also, bilingual skills of those children can be utilized into nurturing global talents and brains.
Forth, integrated social studies should be extended. Educating and enlightening the husbands of immigrant wives can help lessen domestic conflict and provide a better understanding within family with improved awareness of multiculturalism. In this regard, it is required to increase a number of educational programs and diversify various means of inter-grated social education through many means. In the meanwhile, it is necessary to make efforts in improving awareness in that multicultural families are proud members of our society without bias or prejudice.
Fifth, it is also required to provide better working environment and improving rights for workers of related authorities so they can take pride in their works and advance the cause of responsible competitiveness. Also a systemic support system to help children who come to Korea following their immigrant parent after marriage adapt to Korean society and contribute to the national development.
In conclusion, multiculture has been accepted as common nowadays in Korea. In order to enhance national competitiveness and lead its way to become an advanced nation, our society should achieve a high level of social integration and help efficient settlement of multicultural families. In the meantime, our society as a whole should widen our perspectives, implement adequate support services, and come up with measures to allow people with multicultural background to live in harmony.
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