Jang Seok-woong, Jeonnam Superintendent of Education, "34 Closed Schools Returned to Local Communities"

Jang Seok-woong, Superintendent of Jeonnam Education Office, announced a plan to fully shift the policy on utilizing closed schools through a non-face-to-face policy briefing on the 26th. Photo by Jeonnam Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education has taken the lead in preparing measures to utilize the increasing number of closed schools every year.

On the morning of the 26th, Jeonnam Superintendent of Education Jang Seok-woong held a non-face-to-face policy briefing in the medium conference room on the basement first floor of the main office and announced plans for a comprehensive policy shift on closed school utilization.

According to this plan, the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education will adopt the slogan "Closed Schools to Local Residents" and seek a full transition from the existing closed school policy, which relied on sales or leases, to a policy that returns the schools to local residents.

Accordingly, 34 closed schools in Jeonnam will be reborn by 2024 to function as emotional centers of the local community. First, by 2024, a budget of 5 billion KRW will be invested to transform the 34 closed schools into emotional centers for local residents.

Among these, 11 schools will be turned into empathetic resting places where the entire educational community can be happy, with an investment of 1.6 billion KRW, and 8 schools will be developed into student experience spaces with parents, with an investment of 1.2 billion KRW.

Eight closed schools will receive 1.2 billion KRW to create welfare facilities and exchange venues for residents that preserve the history and memories of the schools, and 7 schools will be allocated 1 billion KRW to establish hubs for village community development, such as support facilities for rural study programs in Jeonnam.

To effectively promote this project, the Office of Education has set four policy directions: ▲ thorough management of all closed schools ▲ avoidance of sales or leases of closed schools to individuals excluding local governments and villages ▲ creation of growth hubs for students, residents, and the region ▲ establishment of a cooperative system with local governments.

First, it plans to contribute to job creation by appointing nearby local residents as closed school managers and will focus on facility management and safety measures.

In particular, it will avoid sales or leases of closed schools to individuals as much as possible, excluding local governments and villages, and develop models that utilize closed schools as empathetic resting places, student experience spaces, resident welfare facilities, and regional development hubs, thereby returning them to the arms of local residents in cooperation with local governments and communities.

Furthermore, recognizing that the successful promotion of the "Closed Schools to Local Residents" project is difficult without the interest and participation of local governments and residents, a cooperative system will be established to enable mutual growth and development with the region.

Superintendent Jang Seok-woong said, "Schools were spaces of dreams and hope and places of memories for local residents, but as the number of closed schools increases, concerns arise not only about the sense of loss among residents but also about the stagnation of local communities. Through a comprehensive change in closed school policy, we will ensure that closed schools return as emotional centers of the local community."

He added, "We will strive harder to realize unified Jeonnam education by enhancing local residents' satisfaction through cooperation with local governments and village communities."

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