[2021 Budget Plan] Full Free Education up to High School and Active Promotion of Aging School Improvements (Comprehensive)

Ministry of Education's 76.3332 Trillion Won Budget Proposal for Next Year
Increase Compared to 3rd Supplementary Budget, Decrease Compared to Original Budget

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Starting next year, free education will be expanded to cover all high school grades, and the improvement of aging schools, one of the Korean New Deal policies, will be actively promoted.

The Ministry of Education announced on the 1st that the "2021 Budget Proposal" containing these details has passed the Cabinet meeting. The Ministry of Education's budget proposal for next year is set at 76.3332 trillion KRW. This is an increase of 601.5 billion KRW (0.8%) compared to this year's third supplementary budget of 75.7317 trillion KRW, but a 1.4% decrease compared to this year's original budget of 77.3871 trillion KRW.

Currently, free education is provided only for 2nd and 3rd year high school students, but starting next year, it will be expanded to include 1st year high school students, and related costs have been allocated. Reflecting this, the free education budget will increase from 659.4 billion KRW this year to 943.1 billion KRW. The aging school improvement project, named "Green Smart Future School," will also be fully implemented from next year. The Ministry of Education plans to convert 536 elementary, middle, and high school buildings into digital-based eco-friendly spaces. A new budget of 86.8 billion KRW has been allocated for this. Additionally, 48.7 billion KRW will be invested in pilot projects for textbooks utilizing education and content to strengthen remote classes. The operational foundation for online higher and lifelong education services, such as the Korean Massive Open Online Course (K-MOOC) and university remote education support centers, is also expected to be further expanded.

Meanwhile, the reason the budget proposal for next year is lower than this year's original budget is due to a reduction in budgets related to early childhood and elementary to secondary education. The Special Account for Early Childhood Education Support decreased by 376.9 billion KRW, and local education finance grants decreased by 2.0501 trillion KRW. A Ministry of Education official explained, "In the case of early childhood education support, the unit cost per child remains the same, but the number of children has decreased, leading to a budget reduction," and added, "Local education finance grants are linked to domestic taxes, and since national tax forecasts are expected to decline compared to the previous year, this was taken into account."

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