Muan-gun, Difficulty Attending High Schools in Namak New Town

This Year, 40% of Students Enroll in High Schools in Mokpo City and Nearby Areas

[Muan＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo] Since the development of Namak New Town, the number of students in Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do has increased rapidly, but there is only one high school within the new town, resulting in 40% of students attending schools in neighboring cities and counties.

Currently, the school-age population in Muan-gun is 15,857, the highest among county-level areas in the province, comparable to nearby Naju City (16,270).

As of the end of January this year, the number of high school students is 2,666, of which 1,639 are from the Namak and Oryong areas.

Currently, there is only one high school in the Namak and Oryong areas, Namak High School, and this year about 40% of students have enrolled in other areas such as Mokpo City.

In particular, with the move-in for Oryong 2 District scheduled to begin in July 2024, the number of high school students in the Namak and Oryong areas is estimated to exceed 2,000, which is expected to further increase difficulties in attending high school within the new town.

Muan-gun has repeatedly requested the establishment of a new high school through meetings with the Governor of Jeollanam-do and the Superintendent of Education following the development of the Oryong district.

However, the Jeollanam-do Office of Education has not been able to proceed with the Ministry of Education’s central investment review for establishing a new high school due to the overall decline in the school-age population in the province and poor sales performance in Oryong 2 District.

Accordingly, Muan-gun plans to gather the power of residents to improve the educational environment by launching a large-scale signature campaign until the 17th of next month to actively promote the establishment of a high school in the Oryong area and to propose educational issues.

Lee Ki-hoe, Director of the Autonomous Administration Division, said, “We will do our best to convey the opinions of residents to the Office of Education so that issues for improving local educational conditions can be reflected,” and asked for participation in the signature campaign.

Muan＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo

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