By Kim Bo-eun







The B.C. Offshore Global Education School (CBIS), a popular school among affluent families in eastern Seoul certified by Canada's province of British Columbia, is set to close down.



The school's closure involves imminent deportation of 17 Canadian teachers who came over to Korea for serious career opportunities.



Issues at point are two: the legal status of CBIS and the visa type for the teachers.



The founder of CBIS obtained approval from the Seoul education office as a private academy, not as a school. That means the teachers are on E-2 visas for private language instructors, instead of E-7 for international school teachers.



In February, the Seoul Gangdong Songpa District Office of Education Support filed its third complaint against the institution for violating the law concerning elementary and secondary education.



"According to the law, a person setting up an institution titled a school and operating as a school without authorization from the regional education office can be subject to a prison term of up to three years and a fine up to 30 million won," an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Tuesday.



The local education support office first filed a complaint against the institution in 2013 and then again in 2016, and the Supreme Court found the institution guilty of violating the law, but it continued to operate, said the official. The education office had to request the immigration office to look into the teachers' visas as a last resort.



The CBIS has the same curriculum as public schools in British Columbia. It has been established in countries around the world including China, Egypt, France and Colombia. Students who graduate from the CBIS earn a diploma accredited by the province of British Columbia, facilitating entry into high schools and universities there.



Established in 2012, the CBIS in Seoul has students up to and including 12th grade. Tuition reportedly is between 12 million and 16 million won a year. For wealthy families in the area, CBIS was a favored choice to send their children before sending them off to Canada for higher education.



Most of the 150 students have already left since mid-April when the teachers stopped coming, a CBIS official said. "We will close down operations at the school and turn it into a language academy," the official said.



Seventeen teachers at the CBIS have been ordered to leave the country by May 11. Because the institution is closing down, the B.C. credited teachers are unlikely to come back.



Speaking with the Vancouver Observer recently, one of the teachers called out for help from Canada. According to the British Columbia government website, CBIS will pay teachers for April, May and June according to their contracts and pay the flight costs for them to leave.



There are numerous similar institutions facing crackdowns by the education authorities, but CBIS will be the first to close down.



The Gangdong Songpa District Office of Education Support said it would provide help to the students who would be left without a school. "We will provide assistance so that the students can be accepted into regular schools and complete the regular school curriculum."



