Mapo-gu Provides Free School Uniforms to New Foreign Middle School Students as Well

Expanding Support to Foreign Students for Inclusive Welfare Without Discrimination in Schools... Mapo-gu Initiated Seoul's First School Uniform Support Last Year, Reducing Students' Uniform Purchase Burden

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) is expanding the support for middle school freshmen’s school uniform purchase costs to include foreign students.

In accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which states that “compulsory education shall be free,” the district has been conducting a free school uniform support project since last year to assist middle school freshmen, who are subject to compulsory education, with the cost of purchasing school uniforms, which are considered a public educational good.

On September 24, the district partially amended the Seoul Mapo-gu School Uniform Support Ordinance to establish grounds for providing school uniform purchase cost support to foreign students, thereby expanding the scope of the free school uniform support beneficiaries.

The support target for school uniform purchase costs is middle school freshmen who are registered residents or foreign residents in Mapo-gu as of March 2, 2020, and who wear school uniforms.

Students attending alternative schools with middle school curricula approved by the Ministry of Education are also included in the support target; however, basic livelihood security recipients (living and medical) who receive separate school uniform purchase cost support are excluded.

The support covers summer and winter uniforms as well as daily wear (simplified school uniform attire), and is provided once per person, up to a maximum of 300,000 KRW. School uniform purchase costs supported by the district are excluded from education expense tax credits during year-end tax settlements for wage earners.

The application period is from October 15 to December 15. Applicants can submit the school uniform purchase cost support application form and school uniform purchase receipt through the Mapo-gu website under ‘Communication and Participation ? Integrated Online Application - School Uniform Support Application.’ However, foreign students must additionally submit a Certificate of Foreign Registration.

The district’s principle is that individual purchasers, who are not participants in school-led group uniform purchases, should buy from local uniform vendors. It is expected that the free school uniform support project will not only reduce students’ uniform expenses but also contribute to revitalizing the local economy.

Meanwhile, the district has allocated a budget of 780 million KRW for this year’s free school uniform support and has supported 2,615 middle school freshmen so far.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “By expanding the support for middle school freshmen’s educational purchase costs to include foreign students, we hope to help reduce the educational expenses burden for students in Mapo-gu. We will continue to pay attention to ensuring equal educational welfare for all students in the region.”

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