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Busan Office of Education Announces Green Smart Future School BTL Project on 28th

Gupo Elementary, Geumsa Elementary, Bumin Elementary, and Bongnae Elementary to Promote 'Bundling' Unit Projects

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A new project to transform aging schools over 40 years old into future-oriented facilities through private investment has been launched.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 28th the designation of four elementary schools selected for the 2021 Green Smart Future School project as Build-Transfer-Lease (BTL) type private investment projects and the basic facility project plan.

The Green Smart Future School is one of the representative tasks of the Korean New Deal project, a mid- to long-term national project to convert school facilities that are over 40 years old into future-oriented school facilities.

This differs from conventional school reconstruction projects. It is characterized by the participation of school users such as students, parents, and faculty in the design process to create user-centered, creative school spaces.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will promote the Green Smart Future School project over five years starting this year, targeting a total of 98 schools with a budget of 1.5648 trillion KRW. According to the Ministry of Education’s policy, 25% of these schools will be implemented through the BTL method.

BTL involves private capital investment to construct school buildings, transferring ownership to the education office upon completion, while the education office pays rent to the private operator for 20 years.

The concurrent use of the BTL method in the Green Smart Future School project aims to create a future educational environment in a timely manner with the help of private capital.

This announcement concerns four schools among the 98 Green Smart Future Schools in the Busan area: Gupo Elementary School, Geumsa Elementary School, Bumin Elementary School, and Bongnae Elementary School.

The projects for these schools will be carried out using a bundling procurement method, grouping them into two units: ‘Gupo Elementary and Geumsa Elementary’ and ‘Bumin Elementary and Bongnae Elementary.’

This is to promote an effective Green Smart Future School project by ensuring economic efficiency in construction and operational management of school facilities.

The project cost is 49.9 billion KRW for the reconstruction of Gupo and Geumsa Elementary Schools, and 41.3 billion KRW for the reconstruction and remodeling of Bumin and Bongnae Elementary Schools.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education plans to designate a preferred negotiation partner in the first half of next year, complete negotiations, and then sign an implementation agreement. Following procedures such as designation of the project operator and approval of the implementation plan, construction is scheduled to begin in early 2023.

The evaluation criteria for this BTL project include a newly established item to encourage participation of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to revitalize the local economy.

If the construction cost ratio of local SMEs is 49% or more and the investment ratio is 20% or more, a full score of 10 points will be awarded for each respective item.

Superintendent Kim Seok-jun said, “It is important to create a smart learning environment to actively respond to the rapidly changing educational environment due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and COVID-19 and to leap forward into future education. We will carry out the Green Smart Future School project without any setbacks to achieve this.”

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