Assemblyman Yoon Young-deok: "Need to Bridge Educational Gaps Between Regions... Must Enhance Educational Equity"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that the per-student education investment amount and the ratio of education investment vary significantly by region across 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

According to the '2019 Local Government Education Investment Status' data submitted by the Ministry of Education to National Assembly member Yoon Young-deok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Dongnam-gap) on the 18th, the per-student education investment amount in 17 cities and provinces last year was an average of 542,000 KRW nationwide.

The per-student education investment amount is calculated by dividing the total of non-statutory transfers to education offices, which local governments support at their discretion, and education expense subsidies directly provided to schools for improving educational facilities and environments, supporting school curriculum operations, and improving school educational conditions, by the number of students.

Last year, the per-student education investment amount by local governments averaged 542,000 KRW nationwide, an increase of 86,000 KRW compared to 456,000 KRW in 2018.

The per-student education investment amount in special/metropolitan cities averaged 441,000 KRW, while in provincial areas it averaged 577,000 KRW, showing a difference of 136,000 KRW.

Jeonnam had the highest per-student investment amount at 751,000 KRW. In contrast, Ulsan had the lowest per-student investment amount at only 298,000 KRW, ranking last for four consecutive years, showing a gap of more than 2.5 times compared to Jeonnam.

Next were Gangwon at 729,000 KRW, Chungnam at 684,000 KRW, Seoul at 617,000 KRW, Jeju at 614,000 KRW, Incheon at 580,000 KRW, and Sejong at 577,000 KRW, all with high per-student education investment amounts.

Daegu was the second lowest at 320,000 KRW, followed by Busan at 330,000 KRW, Gwangju at 332,000 KRW, Gyeongbuk at 381,000 KRW, Jeonbuk at 445,000 KRW, Chungbuk at 467,000 KRW, Daejeon at 471,000 KRW, and Gyeongnam at 512,000 KRW, all below the national average per-student education investment amount.

The ratio of education investment to the final budget amount of local governments also showed significant regional disparities.

Last year, the total education investment amount in 17 cities and provinces nationwide was 2.969 trillion KRW, an increase of 409.9 billion KRW compared to 2.5591 trillion KRW in 2018.

The education investment amount includes non-statutory transfers and education expense subsidies.

The ratio of education investment to the final budget amount of local governments was 0.96% on average nationwide, 1.04% on average in special/metropolitan cities, and 0.92% on average in provincial areas.

Sejong had the highest ratio at 2.22%, followed by Gyeonggi at 1.51%, Incheon at 1.33%, Seoul at 1.21%, Daejeon at 1.14%, and Jeju at 0.98%, all above the national average.

Gyeongbuk ranked lowest nationwide at 0.39%, followed by Jeonbuk at 0.52%, Chungbuk at 0.62%, Busan at 0.62%, Jeonnam at 0.66%, Gangwon at 0.69%, Ulsan at 0.71%, Daegu at 0.72%, Gwangju at 0.81%, Gyeongnam at 0.82%, and Chungnam at 0.92%, all below the national average.

Assemblyman Yoon Young-deok stated, “Although local governments’ education investment amounts increase every year, differences in budget size, financial independence, and student numbers among local governments cause significant disparities in per-student education investment amounts by region,” and added, “Students’ right to receive equal education should not be infringed upon due to differences in per-student education investment amounts and education investment ratios by region.”

He continued, “There should not be large disparities in educational benefits received by students depending on local governments’ willingness to invest in education,” and emphasized, “The activation of local governments and education administration councils is necessary to lead education investment by local governments and enhance the equity of educational benefits for students.”

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