-The Ministry of Education (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Sang-kon KIM) announced the publication of Korean language textbooks for secondary school students in Thailand on Hangul Day, October 9th, 2017.

The publication came ten years after Thailand adopted Korean as a second foreign language in secondary schools. It will help Thai students to learn Korean language more systematically.

-The textbooks were developed with the support of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Korea since August 2015, and it was published through the collaboration of the Korean Education Center in Thailand and the Thai Ministry of Education.

In particular, the Thai Ministry of Education developed the Korean Language Curriculum Standards for Thai Secondary Schools in March 2016. Based on the standards, the Korean Education Center in Thailand cooperated with the Ehwa Language Center to convene Korean language experts from Korea and Thailand, in which they co-authored six Korean language textbooks.

-One of the well-known publishers in Thailand, SE-ED, will publish the Korean language textbooks. The texbooks will be published one by one, from October 2017 to March 2018.

All six Korean language textbooks will be published and disseminated to schools in the form of accredited textbooks by the Thai government in 2018. The textbooks will be sold in bookstores for students who do not attend schools with Korean language subject.

-The publication of textbooks will contribute to improving the quality of Korean language teaching and learning in Thai secondary schools. It will also become a guidline for PAT (Professional & Aptitudes Test) conducted for the first time in 2018, and support more schools to add Korean lanugage subject in their schools.

The textbooks will also contribute to alleviating difficulties and problems that Korean language instructors face due to lack of available Korean language textbooks.  

-Since 2011, the Ministry of Education has initiated policies to support the adoption of Korean language as a second foreign language in ASEAN countries.

Starting with the Teacher Dispatch Program in 2011, which sent 54 Korean teachers to Thailand upon the request of the Thailand government, the Korean Education Center in Thailand was established in 2012, and various programs were employed in Thailand such as the Thai Korean teacher training program in 2014.

As a result of these efforts, the number of students and schools with Korean language subject increased quite rapidly. Whereas about 3,000 students in 30 schools taught Korean in Thai secondary schools in 2010, more than 30,000 students in 150 schools learn Korean in 2017.

-Jung-yun KIM, Director for Overseas Koreans' Education of the Korean Ministry of Education reiterated that "the Ministry of Education will continue to support Korean language teaching and learning in Thailand to achieve positive outcomes, and deepen the Korea-Thailand relationship. The Ministry of Education will also use the exemplary case shown in Thailand to expand Korean language teaching and learning in other countries."

*unofficial translation