Kia, Why Provided Customized Mentoring for Children and Adolescents in Seocho-gu?

Seocho-gu and Kia to Hold 'Kia Prentoring' Business Agreement Ceremony on February 24 at Seocho-gu Office 5th Floor Conference Room... Promise to Support 100 Million KRW Annually for 160 Low-Income and At-Risk Children and Adolescents

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu signed a business agreement with Kia on the 24th of last month to support the healthy growth and development of educationally vulnerable children and adolescents in the region and to establish a customized care system through the child and youth mentoring project, ‘Kia Prentoring.’

The ‘Kia Prentoring’ project matches children and adolescents who are educationally and culturally vulnerable in the region with university student mentors interested in educational welfare, providing various types of mentoring such as academic mentoring, cultural experience mentoring, career mentoring, and group mentoring to improve social skills.

The signing ceremony held in the large conference room on the 5th floor of Seocho-gu Office was attended by 12 people, including Kia Executive Director Yoon Honam, Seocho-gu Office Director of Resident Life Bureau, and heads of Banpo Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, Bangbae Youth Center, and Umyeon Comprehensive Social Welfare Center.

The ceremony proceeded with an introduction to the Kia Prentoring project, presentations of best practices by each institution, and plans for promotion.

Since 2013, through the ‘Kia Prentoring’ project, Seocho-gu has provided mentoring to about 160 children and adolescents annually in cooperation with Kia, a company located in Seocho-gu, and three local welfare institutions.

This year marks the 9th year of the ‘Kia Prentoring’ project, which has provided customized mentoring to approximately 1,670 children and adolescents in the local community so far.

Despite the COVID-19 situation last year, the district minimized operational gaps by continuously conducting non-face-to-face activities such as individual mentoring using experience kits like plant topiary, career mentoring through non-face-to-face career tests and special lectures, and mentor meetings via Zoom.

Recognizing these substantial achievements, the project was selected as an ‘Excellent Case of Public-Private Cooperation in Seoul in 2021’ and also won the Minister of Health and Welfare Award in the video category of the ‘2021 Mentoring Essay and Video Contest’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Seo Kyung-ran, Director of the Resident Life Bureau, said, “We will continue to work closely between the public and private sectors to create an environment where children and adolescents can freely dream and challenge themselves.”

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