KT partners with American book publisher to co-develop English education content for kids

SEOUL -- KT, South Korea's largest telecom company, has forged a partnership with Scholastic, an American children's book publisher, to broaden its presence in the next-generation education technology market.

KT said in a statement on Monday that it would cooperate with Scholastic to develop digital contents designed for English education and teaching solution using KT's information and communication technology (ICT) and internet infrastructure.

"By co-working with Scholastic, we will develop innovative kids' English education content and lead the fast-growing domestic education technology market," KT Customer & Media Division head Koo Hyun-mo was quoted as saying.

Based on super-fast internet networks and related technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence and augmented reality, South Korea's digital education technology (edutech) market is rapidly growing. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea's edutech market is projected to grow to more than 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion) in 2020.

South Korean schools adopted edutech in 2011 by providing tablet PCs to schools in remote rural areas. This year, primary schools have started compulsory software education. Some schools have adopted digital textbooks for students above the third grade or interactive special classes using AR and virtual reality headsets.

Scholastic is a global children's book publisher which has branches in 165 countries around the world. It has published popular book series such as "Harry Potter" and "Magic School Bus".