Gyeonggi Office of Education Provides 50,000 KRW 'Education Disaster Relief Fund' Per Student to 1.66 Million Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It is expected that a 'education disaster relief fund' of 50,000 KRW per person will be provided to kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school students in Gyeonggi Province.

Additionally, the installation of portable modular classrooms to alleviate overcrowded classes will also be promoted. Modular classrooms are prefabricated buildings manufactured in factories and then assembled on school grounds.

On the 19th, the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education prepared and submitted to the Gyeonggi Provincial Council the "2021 Gyeonggi Provincial Education Special Account 2nd Supplementary Budget Revenue and Expenditure Plan" containing these details.

This supplementary budget plan amounts to 18.7779 trillion KRW, an increase of 1.731 trillion KRW from the original budget of 17.0469 trillion KRW.

First, to alleviate household burdens due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the Gyeonggi Office of Education decided to provide an education disaster relief fund of 50,000 KRW per student to approximately 1.66 million students in kindergartens, elementary, middle, high schools, and special schools within the province.

This is based on the "Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Education Disaster Relief Fund Support Ordinance" enacted in May this year. The funding comes from 83.3 billion KRW of unused free meal expenses due to reduced school attendance days. The timing and method of the education disaster relief fund payment will be decided and announced soon.

Furthermore, to resolve overcrowded classes with more than 28 students per class, 79.2 billion KRW will be spent to convert 52 special and unused classrooms in elementary and middle schools into general classrooms.

For schools without spare classrooms to use as general classrooms, a total of 414 portable modular classrooms will be installed. Considering the production period, modular classrooms are planned to be available from the new school term next year.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education also allocated 31.5 billion KRW for personnel expenses to assign 434 regular teachers and 905 contract teachers in line with the increased number of classrooms.

In addition, a total of 359 billion KRW will be invested to alleviate overcrowded schools and strengthen school safety nets, including ▲ 82.6 billion KRW for the establishment and expansion of 18 kindergartens and 50 schools ▲ 41.7 billion KRW for quarantine personnel and supplies support ▲ 2.1 billion KRW for psychological and emotional recovery support for teachers and students ▲ 6.1 billion KRW for after-school care and program operation support ▲ 104.3 billion KRW for installation and leasing of classroom air purification devices.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education allocated a total of 284.6 billion KRW for future education-related projects, including supporting 311,616 student tablets for elementary, middle, and high schools to create an IT-based educational environment and strengthen remote learning support.

Additionally, 358.3 billion KRW was allocated for educational environment improvement projects such as school heating and cooling system upgrades, cooperative projects to expand gymnasiums in 29 schools, and expansion of meal equipment and facilities in 1,415 public and private schools. Furthermore, 456.3 billion KRW was budgeted for securing fiscal soundness and other purposes.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education's 2nd supplementary budget plan will be reviewed at the plenary session of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council on the 31st.

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