President Moon Visits Special School: "So Parents Never Have to Kneel Again"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 29th, President Moon Jae-in attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the establishment of 'Gongju National University Affiliated Special School,' the first university-affiliated special school in Korea, encouraging those involved and stating, "I will do my best to ensure that parents never have to kneel again to establish special schools."

At the groundbreaking ceremony held at Gongju National University's Okryong Campus, President Moon said, "The government will also strengthen the integrated support system for students with disabilities throughout their life cycle and strive to expand vocational education foundations and create jobs."

The "parents kneeling" incident mentioned by President Moon refers to the event in September 2017 in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, where parents knelt to demand the establishment of a special school for children with disabilities.

Until now, children with disabilities in Korea could attend special schools in their regions until school age, but after that, there was no separate process, forcing them to return home. With the establishment of this university-affiliated special school for people with disabilities, individuals with disabilities can now receive education beyond school age.

President Moon expressed his expectations, saying, "Students with disabilities should be able to develop themselves through quality education and cultivate specialized knowledge that helps their career paths and jobs. Accessibility and convenience for higher education and lifelong education for people with disabilities, which are still at a low level, must be significantly improved. The national university-affiliated special school is a very meaningful first step toward this."

Quoting the African proverb, "It takes a whole village to raise a child," President Moon stated, "It is regrettable that there are still many who do not welcome the establishment of special schools for people with disabilities in some regions. I ask for a broader heart to consider them as our children."

Meanwhile, after the groundbreaking ceremony, President Moon, in his closing remarks at the meeting, said, "It is not welfare but a constitutional right for people with disabilities to move comfortably like non-disabled people, receive good education, have good jobs, and receive lifelong education," urging attention to expand not only national university-affiliated but also university-affiliated special schools.

First Lady Kim Jung-sook also said in her closing remarks, "I hope for a world where no one is discriminated against due to prejudice, no one is rejected by society, and no one is excluded from hope," adding, "We must advance a barrier-free society so that everyone can dream and no dream is out of reach."

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