Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Accelerates Preparation for 'Political Rights Education' on Voting Rights at Age 18

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education (Superintendent Jang Hwikuk) is accelerating preparations for voting rights education for 18-year-old voters.

According to the Gwangju Office of Education on the 16th, following the amendment of the Public Official Election Act at the end of last year, voting rights were granted to student voters aged 18 and over (born before April 16, 2002), renaming ‘election education’ as ‘voting rights education.’

The number of student voters in Gwangju is estimated to be about 5,300.

Accordingly, the Office of Education established a hotline for cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Election Commission to prevent confusion that may arise in school educational activities.

Also, in October last year, the Office of Education, the City Council, and the Election Commission signed a memorandum of understanding for democratic citizenship education.

On the 12th, a council to revitalize voting rights education, composed of civic groups, professors, and teachers, was held, and in the future, with the cooperation of the Election Commission, a ‘visiting briefing session’ will be conducted targeting all high schools in the district.

On the 14th, educational materials related to the amendment of the Public Official Election Act (‘Operational Standards for Political Relations Law Following the Granting of Voting Rights to 18-Year-Olds’ and ‘Election Education Materials for 18-Year-Old Voters’) were distributed to all high schools.

Among the 67 high schools in the district, 38 schools have student life regulations that prohibit political activities and include disciplinary provisions.

On the 14th, to eliminate the possibility of violating election laws and to guarantee the political activities of student voters, all high schools were informed to revise student life regulations that prohibit political activities (such as joining political parties) according to the amended election law.

Oh Kyungmi, Director of Democratic Citizenship Education at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “Granting voting rights to student voters aged 18 and over guarantees the political activities of youth, who play a key role as democratic citizens,” adding, “Various policies for youth will be introduced in the future.”

She continued, “We will minimize confusion in schools caused by the amended election law,” and added, “We are making multifaceted efforts to support the proper exercise of voting rights by student voters and will continuously strengthen democratic citizenship education to nurture democratic citizens in the mid to long term.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.