Expansion of 'Seoul-type Educational Welfare Schools' to 1,074 Schools... Expanded Operation Targeting Elementary and Middle Schools

This Year's Budget Expanded by 2.2 Billion Won to 16.9 Billion Won
Mixed Operation with Universal, Selective, and Competitive Designation Methods
Basic School Operation Expenses Provided to Public Elementary and Middle Schools

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is investing 16.9 billion KRW in the 'Seoul-type Educational Welfare Project' budget to eliminate educational disparities among students from low-income families and provide customized support.

On the 7th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced the basic plan for the 2022 Seoul-type Educational Welfare Project and stated that it will expand the number of participating schools. The budget has been set at 16.9 billion KRW, a 13.5% increase from last year, supporting 56,045 students.

The Office of Education changed the name of the 'Priority Support Project for Educational Welfare' to the Seoul-type Educational Welfare Project and expanded the number of Seoul-type Educational Welfare Schools from 963 schools last year to 1,074 schools this year.

The designated schools for the Seoul-type Educational Welfare Project account for 81.4% of all schools, totaling 1,074 schools, including 293 hub schools and 781 general schools. General schools include all elementary and middle schools except national/private elementary schools and international middle schools, while hub schools are designated when there are 40 or more legally defined low-income students.

According to the type of support, hub schools with a large number of students receiving intensive support are given priority in professional staff and operating budgets, while general schools with fewer intensive support students receive budgets per student. Intensive support students are provided with various educational opportunities such as teacher-student mentoring and cultural experiences to enhance school adaptability and capabilities.

Starting this year, the Office of Education will expand the educational welfare project schools by switching to a mixed designation method (universal, selective, and open competition) to designate project schools according to school characteristics. A universal designation method will be introduced, designating all public elementary schools and national, public, and private middle schools as general schools, thereby fully expanding elementary and middle school project schools.

Hub schools, high schools, and national/private elementary schools will maintain the selective designation method based on the current number of low-income students. Currently, high schools must have 61 or more economically low-income students, and national/private elementary schools must have at least 7.

For high schools, national/private elementary schools, and other non-project schools that wish to participate in the educational welfare project but are not designated as project schools, an autonomous general school project will be introduced. This expands the project target to include intensive support students in non-project schools.

Public elementary and middle schools will receive educational welfare project funds as basic operating expenses to increase the autonomy of school budget usage. Additionally, 25 regional educational welfare centers linking the Office of Education, autonomous districts, local institutions, and schools will be operated to strengthen support for general schools and provide integrated educational opportunities to intensive support students.

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