[News Today] Teacher program resembles tourism package

[LEAD]

Teachers undergoing qualification training to become school principals are given the chance to study overseas. The goal is to help them learn advanced educational systems and school management practices. But KBS obtained this year's schedules and found something quite different.

Many of the programs appear to be packed with sightseeing, not training.

[REPORT]

Teachers traveling abroad for training are gathered at the airport.

As part of a qualification training program for primary and secondary school principals, these educators will travel to one place of their choice in Europe, the U.S. and five other regions for one week.

Divided into groups, each group is required to choose a study theme and write up a report. But it seems they have other priorities in mind.

Program Trainee / (VOICE MODIFIED)

Team members could not be reached in advance. I thought the team leader would take care of everything.

This is a program schedule obtained by KBS.

On the first day in Austria, they will be learning about art education at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, a popular tourist destination.

Only two hours are allocated to visit a local school out of their three-day stay in Vienna.

School official in Vienna / (VOICE MODIFIED)

[How long is their visit to the school?] From 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The stay in Milan, Italy takes up half of the entire training period, but the schedule there is packed with sightseeing.

Their schedule in the U.S. is also filled with historical and cultural programs resembling a tourism package.

A special lecture at a local educational agency in Germany was planned, but KBS found out that the lecture has been cancelled.

Around 2,500 teachers are eligible for this year's qualification program.

The Ministry of Education explained that the overseas training program is instituted so that soon-to-be principals can learn about advanced educational systems and apply them to Korean schools.