Busan Office of Education Confirms Next Year's Budget at 4.9 Trillion Won ... Focus on Recovering Learning Loss Due to COVID-19

Learning Recovery, Emotional Stability, and Completion of Digital Learning Environment

Summary Table of the 2022 Budget Compilation.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education's budget for next year, focusing on recovering learning abilities in the COVID-19 era, has been finalized at 4.8753 trillion KRW.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 10th that the 2022 budget was finalized on the 9th after approval by the Busan City Council.

Next year's budget emphasizes recovering learning abilities in the with-COVID-19 era, healing psychological and emotional well-being, and creating a digital-centered educational environment utilizing the latest technologies such as software (SW), artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR).

It also focuses on strengthening school quarantine measures so that students can attend classes safely and with peace of mind amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, the budget will be heavily invested in educational recovery, including students' learning ability recovery and psychological and emotional healing, as well as establishing a school safety net.

To recover learning abilities and improve basic academic skills, programs such as Learning Boost (7.8 billion KRW), Academic Enhancement Program (8 billion KRW), and the DaKkaechim Project (900 million KRW) will be implemented for all elementary, middle, and high school students.

To alleviate psychological and emotional anxiety caused by COVID-19, cultural and arts education will be expanded through support for school arts clubs and the Arts Plus program that visits schools.

At the closed Deokdo Elementary School, the Deokdo Art Maru, an art education center where local artists and students collaborate, will be established to promote balanced educational development and expand opportunities for arts education.

With an investment of 10.1 billion KRW for quarantine expenses, school quarantine will be continuously strengthened. Budgets will also be allocated to various areas such as a survey on commuting safety, strengthening safety in science laboratories, improving aging care classrooms, and expanding CPR education to build a student safety net.

With a budget of 21.7 billion KRW, efforts will be actively made to resolve overcrowded classes through teacher reassignment and installation of modular classrooms.

Future education will also be prioritized to respond to changes such as COVID-19 and the 4th Industrial Revolution and to nurture creative and convergent talents who will lead future society.

Since 2020, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education has invested 98.7 billion KRW to complete the establishment of ‘Busan-type Blended Learning Classrooms’ in general classrooms of schools at all levels, and next year, it will invest 22.6 billion KRW to extend blended learning classrooms to special classrooms in schools.

Starting next year, to realize digital learning linking blended learning environments and edutech devices, a total budget of 128.9 billion KRW (62 billion KRW in 2021, 66.9 billion KRW in 2022) will be used to complete the ‘One Smart Device per Student’ project.

Sustainable ecological environment education will also be promoted to overcome climate and environmental crises, including practicing carbon neutrality.

School-specific customized ecological environment education (631 schools, 1.9 billion KRW), school garden operations (130 schools, 500 million KRW), and other environmental education programs will be expanded. Additionally, 117.9 billion KRW will be invested in the Green Smart Future School project to transition to eco-friendly future schools, establishing a healthy ecological school foundation.

To prepare for the full implementation of the high school credit system in 2025, 3.7 billion KRW will be invested to support research-leading schools for the high school credit system. To support both employment and learning for vocational high school students, 2.5 billion KRW has been allocated for a project providing 500,000 KRW employment preparation funds per student.

Free meals will be expanded to kindergartens (21.4 billion KRW) following all students. A ‘Comprehensive Support Plan for Kindergarten Meals’ will be established to create a safe meal environment, and efforts will be made to manage meal quality by distributing menus suitable for young children.

Superintendent Kim Seok-jun said, “Next year’s budget will be focused on accelerating the full recovery of normal school life and supporting students to grow into creative and convergent talents.”

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