South Korean children in one of the country’s largest provinces will learn about crypto starting this spring after the local education authority announced its willingness to incorporate more “real world” financial education into its curriculum.
The new academic year begins in South Korea in March, and before the new semester, the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, in North Gyeongsang Province (which accounts for nearly 20% of South Korea’s landmass), has distributed new educational materials to primary, middle and secondary schools in the region, focusing primarily on modern economic realities. But it seems that cryptocurrencies will not be on the menu for younger students, or at least not yet.
In addition to teaching children about “crypto and digital assets,” news outlet Newsis reported, teachers will also receive instructions to explain concepts such as voice phishing and issues related to digital privacy. Lessons on these topics will be added to the social studies curricula as an optional module (elective) in high school first grade, but appear to be required for high school third grade and high school first grade students.
The office added that it would provide teachers with training on the topics throughout the month of January before the changes. The news outlet quoted Bae Seong-ho, the office’s director of secondary education, as saying:
“We will provide economics education that will help students establish a rational concept of economics and respond flexibly to changing times.”
This is not the South Korean education system’s first brush with cryptocurrencies. In 2020, Cryptonews.com reported that one type of “cryptocurrency” (unlisted) was to be the native currency of a new government-run educational platform that was meant to teach young students about concepts like “crowdfunding.”
Crypto and blockchain related topics are also becoming more common than ever in South Korean universities. Elsewhere in East Asia, one of China’s leading universities of technology, the Chengdu University of Information Technology, is currently running a Blockchain Engineering undergraduate course, and the first group of students will graduate in 2024.
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