Gwangju Dongbu Office of Education Announces 2022 School Year Free Mandatory Meal Support Plan

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] The Gwangju Dongbu Office of Education announced a plan to support free mandatory meal costs with strengthened eco-friendly and Non-GMO ingredients for 65,158 students across 217 kindergartens, elementary, and middle schools in the district for the 2022 academic year.

According to the Dongbu Office of Education on the 9th, kindergartens, elementary, and middle schools will increase the unit price of food costs by 2.95% and the unit price of operating costs by 40 won each compared to last year, and will raise the cost for excellent eco-friendly ingredients by 200 won from last year to support 500 won (▲66.6%).

An elementary school with 300 students received 17.1 million won for excellent eco-friendly ingredients in 2021, but in 2022, it will receive 28.5 million won, an increase of 11.4 million won (▲66.6%) compared to last year.

Additionally, the scope of use has been significantly expanded to include cooking utensils and cafeteria cleaning costs, quarantine activity support costs, and small-scale equipment purchase and repair costs, enabling the enhancement of welfare, safety, and autonomy in school meals.

Kim Cheol-ho, Superintendent of the Gwangju Dongbu Office of Education, said, "We will pilot vegetarian meal options to respond to the climate crisis and improve healthy green eating habits," adding, "We will do our best to support free meals to realize universal educational welfare and promote the sound physical and mental development of growing students."

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