Will a New Middle School in Wangsimni New Town Resolve the Bean Sprout Classroom Issue?

Seongdong-gu and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Sign Agreement on February 28 to Improve Educational Conditions in Seongdong-gu... Recognizing Issues Through Analysis of School-Age Population and Gender Ratio Trends, Seeking Joint Solutions Through Communication and Cooperation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The establishment of a middle school is being promoted in Wangsimni New Town, Seongdong-gu.

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) signed a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon) on February 28 to improve educational conditions.

The two organizations will build a close cooperative system, share awareness of the issues in local educational conditions, and actively work on finding solutions.

Based on the analysis of trends in the school-age population and gender ratio in the region, as well as the educational conditions of local issues, the two organizations agreed to promptly improve educational conditions in each area starting from this agreement.

Through this agreement, the focus will be on establishing middle schools in the Wangsimni New Town and Kumho-dong areas, fostering appropriately sized middle and high schools in Seongsu-dong, and resolving the gender imbalance among high school students in the region.

First, Wangsimni New Town and Kumho-dong areas have large residential complexes formed through redevelopment, leading to a continuous increase in the school-age population due to the influx of young people. However, unlike the northern central and Seongsu-dong areas where schools are concentrated, there are no middle schools in these areas.

Therefore, to establish a middle school in Wangsimni New Town where securing new sites is difficult, options such as establishing integrated operation schools linked with existing schools are being considered. For the Kumho-dong area, the district will prepare the optimal plan through independent research by the Seongdong-Gwangjin Education Support Office based on alternatives proposed by the district for middle school establishment.

Meanwhile, in Seongsu-dong, where small-scale middle schools with fewer than 300 students (Gyeongsu, Gyeongil, Seongsu, Seongwon Middle Schools) are located, the number of middle school entrants has been decreasing annually. Plans to integrate Seongsu Middle-Gyeongil Middle and Seongsu High-Gyeongil High are being explored to foster schools with an appropriate number of students.

Additionally, although there is little difference in the gender ratio among elementary and middle school students in the area, the gender ratio among high school students shows a significant gap with 27.3% male and 72.7% female students. Therefore, plans to increase the proportion of male students by attracting general boys' high schools or converting Hanyang University Education High School to a general high school are also being considered.

Although school establishment and student assignment fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of Education, the district has actively taken steps to resolve inconveniences faced by students commuting and address residents' demands. To this end, Seongdong-gu has sought practical solutions through various methods such as meetings with local residents and research projects conducted in 2016. Subsequently, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Seongdong-Gwangjin Education Support Office also conducted related research projects to explore various ways to improve educational conditions.

Furthermore, several rounds of coordination were held to narrow differences in opinions through meetings between the district mayor and the superintendent, working-level councils including local council members, and visits and consultations with related organizations.

Thanks to these proactive efforts, the district signed an agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on school establishment and educational environment improvement. This agreement is a very rare and first-of-its-kind pact between the metropolitan office and a district to improve educational conditions, demonstrating fruitful communication and cooperation between institutions.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “This agreement is the result of continuous discussions and gathering opinions between the Office of Education and Seongdong-gu on all educational issues that have existed in Seongdong-gu.” He added, “I deeply thank Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon and related personnel who shared the will to think together and solve the residents' demands.” He also said, “Since this is the first agreement based on social consultation between the district office and the Office of Education to improve educational conditions, we will continue to do our best to achieve great results.”

Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon also said, “The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the district share the ultimate goal of providing better educational environments for students, which led to today's achievement.” He added, “I hope this business agreement will pave a new path for the students, schools, and residents of Seongdong-gu in Seoul to grow progressively.”

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