Are you wondering what am I doing here in Korea? If you are, then this post is especially for you.
The brief history of the program
Starting 2014, Malaysia received an invitation to join an exchange program for teachers; Korea-Malaysia Teacher Exchange Program or KOMTEP as you know it. The program is initiated by Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) and funded by Ministry of Education Korea.
What is the program for?
Just as the name suggests, this program calls upon teachers from certain regions throughout southeast Asia to do cultural exchanges between the two nations in conjunction of Global Citizenship Education (GCED).
How can you apply?
Applying for KOMTEP is easy, but getting in is not a joke. As the requirements each year differ, you can't really be sure of what to expect. As for 2019, the interested participants were asked to prepare 1 4-5 minutes duration video about their achievements at school/in life. Obviously, my video was longer than that! I did mine for about 11 minutes.😱😱😱 What did I put in the video? Well, mainly braggings about my life. Was it too much? To me, nope. You have got to sell yourself, so do whatever's necessary to earn your spot, at least to get yourself into the next round.
Once we submitted our forms and the short videos, we waited for the interview letter. I was lucky since I am teaching in Putrajaya, but those who worked outside of Putrajaya, including Sabah and Sarawak had to handle their own transportation, travel, accomodation and etc. So, be mindful of this if you're applying next year. Don't go around asking for claims, okay. The interview was conducted within a day, with three separate rooms and six different interviews from respective fields such as ELTC, Bahagian Lembaga Peperiksaan, Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan and of course, Bahagian Pembangunan Guru (also known as Bahagian Professionalisma Guru). Before the interview, we were asked to sit for a written exam. What should you prepare for this exam? None. Just rely on your existing knowledge and experience of the teaching world. The interview was quite nervewrecking to me as you have to understand the current issues in Education, the Malaysian curriculum as well as your own project. Yes, your project! Prior to the application, every one of us were asked to prepare a project which we wanted to carry out at Korean schools. The project could be on cultural, technology or even curriculum. Make sure you prepare an absolute mindblowing yet doable project, okay!
Our result came out two weeks after the interview. Honestly, our batch was a bit lucky as we didn't have any selection camp due to budget cut. So, the selected ten were chosen based on their performance during the interview itself. As for the orientation week, it was carried out at BTP Port Dickson for 3 days and 2 nights. We've learnt a lot from the past alumnis regarding the dos and donts and ways to improve our projects. It was also during that period of time that we practised for our cultural dance. It was verrrrrrrrrrry intense yet fun! We started our practise as early as 8p.m. and ended about 4a.m. the following day. Well, at the end of the day, the sweat was all worth it. The audience enjoyed our show during the opening ceremony in Seoul and we received a lot of positive feedback by the members of the floor too. My Korean mentor teacher even recorded the whole show! Daebakkk!
Before I end my ramblings, I would suggest you to learn a bit of Korean language before coming here. It is not compulsory to nail it down but it would be a great help to you and your friends while living in Korea.
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