Gyeonggi-do to Remove 500,000㎡ of Asbestos from 151 Schools in the Province This Year

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will remove 500,000㎡ of asbestos from 151 schools in the province this year.

Asbestos was widely used as a ceiling finishing material in classrooms from the 1970s to the 1990s due to its excellent insulation, heat retention, and noise-blocking properties. However, it was banned from manufacturing, importing, and use in construction asbestos cement in 2007 after it was found to cause malignant diseases such as lung cancer when inhaled into the lungs.

Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Office of Education are carrying out a project to remove 8.53 million㎡ of asbestos materials from 2,466 schools in the province by 2027, investing a total of 1.1816 trillion KRW.

Accordingly, the province has been supporting the Gyeonggi Office of Education with 2 billion KRW annually since 2019 to shorten the project period.

By the end of last year, the two institutions removed 4.3 million㎡ of asbestos, which is 50% of the target amount, from 1,611 schools including those currently in progress. This year's plan is to remove asbestos from 151 schools, covering 7,570 classrooms (500,000㎡).

The province selected schools that received 'high' or 'medium' ratings in the health and environmental risk assessment during asbestos removal as the highest priority project targets this year.

Andong-gwang, Director of the Lifelong Education Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "We will do our best to provide safe and happy educational conditions for students in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education."

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