Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education Receives Positive Response for Online University Student Mentoring Program for Vulnerable Groups

From Assignment Guidance to Emotional Support
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Extends Operation Considering High Satisfaction

The photo shows the Daegu Education University Alumni Association visiting the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education on July 7, presenting a scholarship of 5 million won to Superintendent Kang Eun-hee with a request to use it for nurturing talent, followed by a commemorative photo. The Daegu Education University Alumni Association is a group of principals, vice principals, and education professionals who graduated from Daegu Education University, founded in 2000.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 10th that it will continue to extend the operation of the university student mentoring program supporting underprivileged students, considering the high satisfaction level.

Since April, about 60 mentors have been continuing to provide online academic and emotional support mainly to educationally vulnerable students such as those from grandparent-headed or single-parent families, who are at risk of learning loss even after school reopening.

They help vulnerable students who find cyber learning difficult to set up a proper learning environment to focus on classes, while also providing guidance on assignments and daily life. In addition, through emotional support covering daily routines such as waking up in the morning, concerns, career exploration, and peer relationships, they care for mentees exhausted by COVID-19.

Mentoring is conducted non-face-to-face online through phone calls, SNS, and video calls due to social distancing measures. Initially, mentors and mentees felt awkward about online mentoring, but gradually built intimacy, establishing it as a mentoring method suitable for the 'COVID-19 era,' according to the Office of Education.

Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education will provide guidance to ensure smooth implementation if schools wish to additionally operate university student mentoring, and plans to combine face-to-face mentoring within the minimum number of participants while complying with infectious disease prevention rules.

Superintendent Kang Eun-hee emphasized, "This time, university student mentoring is also being conducted online in line with the COVID-19 era, receiving positive responses," and added, "We will support every child without missing anyone so that underprivileged students are not excluded from education."

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