Agreement allows continuity of Korean course at USP – 10/09/2023 – Education

An agreement between the FFLCH (Faculty of Letters, Philosophy and Human Sciences), at USP, and the South Korean consulate in São Paulo will guarantee the continuity of qualifications in Korean for the university’s Literature course in 2024.

A Korean teacher will be provided to USP by Seoul in the next academic year. The agreement for the professional’s arrival was signed on Friday (6), during a visit by the consul general of the Republic of South Korea, Insang Hwang, to Cidade Universitária, in the west zone of São Paulo.

In addition to the consul, the meeting was attended by professor and director of FFLCH, Paulo Martins, professors Antonio José Bezerra de Menezes Junior and Lusine Yeghiazaryan, respectively head and deputy head of the Department of Oriental Literature, professor Yun Jung Im Park, from the area of Korean Language and Literature, and Vivian de Castro, head of international relations service.

According to the FFLCH communication, the meeting presented the difficulties currently faced by the Korean course, such as the lack of teachers. In view of the above, the college and the government of South Korea, through the Korea Foundation, extended the partnership — which will provide the offer of qualifications in Korean in 2024.

The Oriental Literature department at FFLCH has suffered for years from a lack of teachers. There are courses in Arabic, Armenian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and Korean.

The fear of a possible extinction of some of these courses was the spark for the strike in force at the university — with the exception of the Polytechnic School, which ended the strike.

For more than three weeks, the student movement has been paralyzing classes. The strikers summarize their demands in five areas: hiring teachers; increase in student living aid; structural improvements at USP Leste; promotion of indigenous entrance exams; and valuing student rights. The admission of new teachers is the most debated topic.

In an attempt to end the strike, the USP rectory offered last Wednesday (4) the hiring, within 45 days, of 148 temporary professionals, to be distributed to the most needy courses. Afterwards, these vacancies would become effective.

The strikers scheduled a new meeting for this Monday (9), when they will have to decide whether or not to continue the strike.