Gwanak-gu Supports School Education Expenses with 13.5 Billion Won

[Seoul District News] Gwanak-gu Expands Education Expense Subsidies, Increases New Student Enrollment Preparation Funds and Eco-friendly School Meal Support... Yongsan-gu Accepts Proposals for 2023 Resident Participatory Budget Projects... Dongdaemun-gu Opens Applications for Q4 2021 Small Business Loss Compensation... Eunpyeong-gu Provides 280,000 Rapid Antigen Self-Test Kits to Vulnerable Groups Amid Omicron Surge

In 2021, Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu (second from the right), listening to suggestions from schools and parents at the Gwanak Office visiting schools.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is actively working to reduce the educational expenses burden on parents and improve the educational environment by expanding financial support for kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools in the area.

The district supports a total of 13.5 billion KRW for 90 schools in the area, including ▲ 6 billion KRW for educational expense subsidies ▲ 5.89 billion KRW for free school meals ▲ 290 million KRW for innovative education support projects ▲ 450 million KRW for elementary to high school entrance preparation funds ▲ 300 million KRW for free education ▲ 210 million KRW for career and job experience support ▲ 410 million KRW for SAM mentoring, among others.

The largest portion, educational expense subsidies, has steadily increased from 1.5 billion KRW in 2018 to double in 2019, and has been increased by 1 billion KRW annually to improve school educational environments and reduce educational disparities, thereby revitalizing public education.

Especially this year, in addition to supporting academic improvement and facility environment enhancement through educational expense subsidies, a specialized project reflecting suggestions received from schools and parents during the operation of ‘2021 Gwanakcheong Visiting Schools’ will be separately promoted.

The specialized projects are differentially supported according to the number of students by school level, including fostering future talents responding to the 4th Industrial Revolution in elementary schools, school violence prevention and transitional experience activities in middle schools, academic improvement in general high schools, and learning assistant projects for disabled children in special schools.

Educational expense subsidies are finalized after review and resolution by the ‘Educational Expense Deliberation Committee’ in early February based on applications from each school, and were distributed to each school by early March.

The district, jointly funding with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Seoul City, has been supporting 300,000 KRW per new middle and high school student since last year to reduce parents’ educational expenses, and this year expanded support to provide 200,000 KRW per new elementary school student.

Also, eco-friendly school meals for elementary, middle, and high school students will be expanded to kindergartens starting this year, with support increasing by about 460 million KRW compared to the previous year to 5.89 billion KRW, strengthening the public nature of education.

A district official said, “It is no exaggeration to say that the driving force behind Gwanak-gu’s growth lies in the education of our future children,” adding, “We will continue to contribute to reducing educational disparities and revitalizing public education through educational support reflecting the needs of schools.”

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) is accepting applications for the ‘2023 Resident Participatory Budget Project’ to realize grassroots democracy.

The resident participatory budget was mandated by the Local Finance Act in 2011 to enhance transparency and fairness in local finances. Residents directly propose some projects from the next year’s budget, which are reviewed by resident participatory budget committee members composed of district residents and finalized through the district council’s deliberation.

The size of the resident participatory budget for next year is 2 billion KRW. General projects can be proposed up to 300 million KRW per case (15 million KRW for event projects), and neighborhood representative projects up to 50 million KRW per case.

Residents (including local workers) who wish to participate can submit their opinions by April 22 on the district website under the resident participatory budget section titled ‘Please use Yongsan-gu budget like this.’

Applications can also be submitted by mail (8th floor, Planning and Budget Division, 150 Noksapyeong-daero, Yongsan-gu, Seoul) or by email to the person in charge. Forms can be downloaded from the resident participatory budget section.

The district selects budget projects through departmental review (May), resident participatory budget committee review (June-July), and resident voting (August-September). The final budget including the resident participatory budget will be confirmed at the district council’s regular session in November.

A district official said, “Proposals submitted after the reception period will be reviewed for the 2024 budget,” adding, “Fresh ideas that change daily life by residents themselves are always welcome.”

The district has newly formed the resident participatory budget committee with 48 members, three from each neighborhood. They work in three subcommittees: ▲administrative welfare ▲urban parks ▲safety and construction, with a one-year term from March 2022 to February 2023.

Separate from the resident participatory budget committee, neighborhood ‘local meetings’ are also operated, responsible for discovering local issues and selecting neighborhood representative projects.

This year, the district’s resident participatory budget projects include 33 cases (22 general projects and 11 neighborhood representative projects). Last year, 101 proposals were received from residents and finalized through procedures including resident electronic voting.

Major projects include ▲security light maintenance in one-room areas near university campuses ▲road maintenance to revitalize Yongmun Market ▲environmental maintenance of old staircases ▲installation of automatic saline spraying devices in snow removal vulnerable areas (Namyeong-dong, Cheongpa-dong), among others.

Yongsan-gu Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, “Expanding resident participation becomes the driving force for the district to pursue more responsible policies,” adding, “We hope many residents participate in project proposals that resolve inconveniences and enhance resident convenience.”

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) will operate the 4th quarter 2021 Small Business Loss Compensation On-site Reception Center in the basement level 2 of the district office starting from the 10th for small business owners who have difficulty accessing online or need to submit detailed additional supporting documents.

From the 10th to the 23rd, a parity-based system will be implemented based on the last digit of the business registration number to prevent congestion due to excessive civil complaints. From the 24th, applications can be submitted regardless of the business registration number.

Common required documents for on-site visits include a copy of the business registration certificate or a business registration confirmation (issued within the last month), the ID of the representative or visitor, various consent forms, and additional documents if applicable.

The support target for the 4th quarter 2021 small business loss compensation is small enterprises under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises that suffered serious business losses due to gathering bans, business hour restrictions, or facility capacity limits from October 1 to December 31, 2021.

The compensation amount is determined by applying the quarantine measure implementation period and a correction rate of 90% to the average daily loss amount in the same month of 2021 compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019. Deduction of compensation pre-paid in January will be reflected. The quarterly compensation cap is up to 100 million KRW, with a minimum of 500,000 KRW. However, businesses violating quarantine measures may receive partial or no payment or may be subject to recovery.

Rapid compensation based on local government quarantine compliance and National Tax Service tax data is paid within two days after application without additional documents. Inquiries related to loss compensation can be made by phone to the Dongdaemun-gu Small Business Loss Compensation On-site Reception Center.

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Online applications for rapid compensation are also available through the loss compensation website.

Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol said, “We have assigned dedicated personnel to operate the on-site reception center so that small business owners who have difficulty using the internet can easily apply for loss compensation,” adding, “We hope all eligible small business owners apply for loss compensation to help overcome the difficult times caused by COVID-19.”

Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) will provide 280,000 ‘Rapid Antigen Self-Test Kits’ to vulnerable groups to respond to the rapid spread of Omicron.

The district proactively supported a total of 81,200 rapid antigen self-test kits to about 17,600 people including infants and teachers at daycare centers and users of elderly welfare facilities at the end of February.

By the end of March, the district plans to distribute kits in five phases to 34,530 vulnerable people including infants and teachers at daycare centers, users of elderly welfare facilities, disabled persons, homeless people, pregnant women, and basic livelihood security recipients, supporting a total of about 52,200 people with 280,000 test kits.

An Eunpyeong-gu official said, “We will do our best to actively protect vulnerable groups amid the spread of Omicron.”

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