As South Korea recovered from the Korean War to become the first country to go from aid recipient to donor, the government is educating the public about the importance of official development assistance.

Shortly after Korea joined the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, government officials decided that the country was in need of more ODA expertise and policy and project reform.

So the Korea International Cooperation Agency, a state-run organization for overseas assistance and humanitarian aid, opened the International Development Education Academy in March 2010.

The academy uses knowledge gained over 20 years to teach people about the importance of ODA.

Courses include a general introduction in international development cooperation, overview courses on different regions, including Africa and South America, and gender and welfare courses.

Between its opening and 2011 the school saw some 24,300 students pass through its doors through 326 classes. Those students included elementary school children and experts looking for more specific knowledge about their field.

The academy not only holds its courses within the facility itself, but also dispatches its instructors to a growing base of universities and elementary, middle and high schools.

According to IDEA director Cho Kwang-geol, many primary school teachers come to the academy to take courses for themselves preparing to volunteer during their vacation or retirement.

But once they take the course, Cho says that teachers are enthusiastic about sharing the experience with their students and request that the academy dispatch lecturers to their schools to talk to their students about ODA.

And through IDEA, universities have also set up Master’s programs, such as the Rural Society Leadership Development for Global Poverty Reduction offered at Yonsei University.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)