Jeon Nam Provincial Assembly Member Lee Hyuk-je's 'Education Disaster Relief Fund Payment Ordinance' Passes in One Point

Lee Hyuk-je, a provincial assembly member, is presenting the "Jeollanam-do Office of Education Disaster Relief Fund Payment Ordinance" as the chief proposer at the 347th extraordinary session. Photo by Jeonnam Provincial Assembly

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-gyeong] Lee Hyuk-je, Chair of the Budget and Accounts Special Committee of the Jeonnam Provincial Council (Democratic Party, Mokpo 4), had the 'Jeollanam-do Office of Education Educational Disaster Relief Fund Payment Ordinance' he proposed as a representative passed as a one-point agenda at the 347th extraordinary session on the 13th.

This ordinance, considered the first case of an ordinance enacted and approved as a one-point agenda in the Jeonnam Provincial Council, highlighted the strong will of the Jeonnam Provincial Council to improve the quality of life of residents struggling due to COVID-19.

The 'Educational Disaster Relief Fund Payment Ordinance' contains provisions to guarantee the right to learn and support educational conditions for students and out-of-school youth in the event of various social disasters, aimed at students who have not received educational benefits due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, unlike ordinances in other local governments, it is notable that out-of-school youth are also included as beneficiaries.

Based on this ordinance, Jeonnam Province, cities and counties, and the Jeonnam Office of Education can jointly provide non-face-to-face learning support funds to high school students.

The non-face-to-face learning support fund is a project to support high school education for high school students who were not included in the government's second disaster relief last month, providing 150,000 KRW per high school student and out-of-school youth.

Chair Lee Hyuk-je and the Jeonnam Provincial Council swiftly completed the ordinance review and plenary session approval within a day, advancing the payment timing of the educational disaster relief fund for about 50,000 high school students and out-of-school youth in the province by more than 10 days.

Considering the deteriorated financial capacity of cities and counties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, Chair Lee negotiated with Jeonnam Province to lower the local government’s share of the non-face-to-face learning support fund compared to the original plan.

Chair Lee Hyuk-je said, “This ordinance was prepared to contribute to overcoming educational disasters by guaranteeing the right to learn and improving educational conditions for students and youth by providing educational disaster relief funds when social or natural disasters lead to educational disasters.”

He added, “Due to COVID-19, in-person classes have not been sustained, worsening the academic gap. I hope this educational disaster relief fund will be a small support to high school students and out-of-school youth in Jeonnam Province.”

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