Seoul Metropolitan Council to Approve Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Supplementary Budget on the 29th

Seoul Metropolitan Council Education Committee to Operate from 22nd to 24th, Special Budget and Accounts Committee from 25th to 28th... Plenary Session Scheduled at 2 PM on 29th to Approve Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Supplementary Budget Proposal

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim Hyun-ki) has decided to hold the Education Committee and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts during the Eulji Exercise period (22nd to 25th) to process the 2022 2nd supplementary budget proposal of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, which is a pressing issue.

The Education Committee is scheduled to review the supplementary budget proposal from the 22nd to the 24th, and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts from the 25th to the 28th.

This decision was made after the chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council held a joint meeting with the representatives of the two negotiating parties, the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Education Committee, and the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts to promptly finalize the agenda for processing the Office of Education’s supplementary budget proposal.

Subsequently, the Seoul Metropolitan Council plans to hold a plenary session at 2 p.m. on August 29 to process the 2022 2nd supplementary budget proposal of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Members of the People Power Party in the Seoul Metropolitan Council have criticized, saying, "It is problematic that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has not submitted a supplementary budget proposal despite the need for budgets such as school restroom improvements and asbestos replacement demands."

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Shim Mi-kyung (Dongdaemun-gu, People Power Party) stated at the Education Committee meeting during the 312th extraordinary session on the 18th, “The current electronic blackboard and DIBIT projects by the Office of Education seem to be more welfare-oriented than educational for children,” adding, “They started without establishing a mid- to long-term plan, and seeing that the supplementary budget was hastily prepared based on a satisfaction survey, I doubt whether the survey items were appropriate.”

Assemblywoman Shim also emphasized that the DIBIT project (a project to provide one smart device per student, currently being expanded from the first year of middle school) was initiated last year with 68 billion won through the supplementary budget, raising questions about the educational effectiveness for students.

She said, “There has been no evaluation of how effective DIBIT is for our children’s education, and what impact this project will have on our children’s future from a forward-looking perspective.”

In response, an official from the Office of Education said, “Statistics show that in the U.S., over 85% of schools in many states have students bringing their own smart pads to class, and several advanced countries are implementing one smart device per student,” adding, “Seoul is quite late compared to the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education.”

After hearing the response, Assemblywoman Shim pointed out, “Despite foreign cases and precedents from other metropolitan and provincial offices of education, there is no trace of concern about the issues before starting the project or how to view it from a mid- to long-term perspective.”

She added, “Research is needed on how much the DIBIT project has influenced students’ basic academic skills and what impact it has on character development,” and expressed the opinion that in terms of budget, in-depth review is necessary.

Finally, Assemblywoman Shim said, “For Seoul’s education to develop, thorough preparation and analysis of precedents are necessary before implementing education-related projects,” and “caution must be exercised in budgeting to realize the projects.”

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