The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology furtively changed the qualifications for Korean university students overseas and foreign university students studying Korea-related majors teaching English in schools in Korea, prompting criticism that it cast the original purpose of the program on the waters. According to the Education Ministry on Thursday, the qualification for applicants was changed to include freshmen and sophomores at universities. In the original announcement on April 16, only those who completed at least two years of a four-year university course were to be eligible. The new rules, however, allow university graduates and graduate school students to apply as well.

Originally, only students in four-year universities, or those who transferred to four-year universities after completing two years in community colleges were allowed to apply. According to the changed version, there is no distinction between the terms “university” and “college.”

The English teaching volunteer scholarship program by the president is part of the administration’s ambitious plans to improve public English-language education. To narrow down regional gap, the government decided to recruit volunteers from among Korean students studying overseas and foreign university students to teach English after school in rural areas. Critics argue that expanding the qualification to include all university students, university graduates, and graduate school students will compromise the quality of teachers since the reason the Education Ministry was originally being selective was to ensure quality teachers are recruited.

Some speculate that the government loosened the qualification because the number of applicants is well below the 400 the government planned to recruit as the June 15 deadline for applications approaches. However, an official at the Education Ministry said the decision to change the qualification came after numerous calls from Koreans living overseas who asked to ease the qualification and widen the door. “We will be able to know the exact number after we total the figures, but there is no problem with meeting our goal,” the official said.