Students attend after-school classes at Seoul Geumho Elementary School. / Korea Times file



By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-soo



Elementary schools will be banned from running intensive English after-school classes for first and second-grade students from March to make them concentrate on learning Korean.



The Ministry of Education said it will terminate the temporary approval for the program on Feb. 28, despite opposition from parents and after-school class teachers, many of whom are contract workers.



The ministry said the decision was in line with the Constitutional Court's ruling in February 2016 that found the government's prohibition of intensive English education for children in the first few grades of elementary school was constitutional. The court said teaching young children Korean and English at the same time could hinder their development of Korean proficiency and cause other side effects.



Following the ruling, the ministry removed English from the regular curriculum of first and second-graders at elementary schools but has allowed English to be taught in after-school classes until Feb. 28.



"The (English after-school class) program will come to an end on Feb. 28," the ministry said.



The decision has ignited opposition from parents and after-school class teachers. Many parents want the program extended because it is cheaper than private language institutes and it gives children from low-income families an opportunity to learn English.



The decision has also left about 7,000 Korean and native English teachers hired for the program at risk of losing their jobs.



"It is a policy that will only benefit the private education sector," said Lee Jun-ho, an assistant administrator of the National Federation of After School Classes. "This will cause great commotion among the 7,000 Korean and native-speaking English teachers of the after-school classes."