In an effort to promote consumer education in schools, Korea Consumer Agency (KCA, www.kca.go.kr) has carried out the training course for 120 consumer instructors including elementary and middle school teachers, who are in charge of consumer education, as well as education professionals, from the 8-10, 15-17 and 22-24 of January.

  Instructors on previous courses requested the launch of extra sessions per year, so three sessions were organized, instead of two, in early 2013. The last course has been also very successful thanks to the enthusiastic attitude of the instructors.

  Since 1997, the KCA has been operating the courses in a bid to foster an independent mindset among consumers and to raise awareness of consumer issues. Teachers nationwide who are responsible for raising child and youth consumer awareness have shown a keen response to the courses.

  The last course included subjects designed to help young consumers understand the concept of consumer awareness and influence their behavior. Cases were presented in the classes, during which instructors from the designated school run by the KCA applied the lessons from the courses to their schools.

  Dae-Pyo Jung, president of the KCA, said, "In order to promote reasonable consumer behavior as early as possible and help youth wisely navigate the complicated and tempting consumption environment, huge efforts on the part of the teachers are needed. I hope the courses prove valuable in terms of real-life education and application."

  A teacher who took the course commented, "It was interesting to learn about the KCA’s activities and the concept of consumer education in greater detail."

  The KCA plans to run the course in the second half of this year in Chungcheongbuk-do as well as in Seoul to narrow the gap in opportunities for such training in regions. The main priorities will be to foster a mindset of reasonable consumption and to promote consumers’ capability, and the KCA will engage in comprehensive and systematic activities to achieve these goals.