Seoul Run 1st Anniversary, Agreement Reached with Ministry of Health and Welfare on New Social Security System... Foundation Secured for Main Project 추진

Support Target Increased from 50% to 85% of Median Income, Textbooks Also Supported... Ordinance to be Established in January Next Year for Institutional Foundation
Own Education Platform to Launch Service in July Next Year, Expanding Extracurricular Content and Mentoring for Language and Transfer Exams

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] As the Seoul education platform ‘Seoul Learn’ marks its first anniversary, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 1st that after requesting consultations for the establishment of a social security system with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it has received a notification of ‘consultation completed’ following six preliminary consultations over the past year.

‘Consultation completed’ signifies official government approval, and according to Seoul city, this means that after a year of pilot projects, the foundation has been secured to stably provide the ‘Seoul Learn’ service as a full-scale project. Seoul city began the process last April by making the first request for consultation on establishing a social security system to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and went through multiple rounds of discussions. On the 30th of last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare finally notified ‘consultation completed (conditional)’ regarding the ‘Seoul Learn Project Establishment and Amendment Plan,’ which includes expanding extracurricular content and improving and developing the project.

With this government approval, Seoul city has secured the driving force to promote ‘Seoul Learn’ and will now actively prepare for an upgraded ‘Seoul Learn 2.0.’ First, Seoul plans to expand the income eligibility for ‘Seoul Learn’ support from below 50% of the median income to below 85% of the median income, and to include third or later children in multi-child families as well as national veterans (themselves, spouses, and children) in the eligibility criteria. Additionally, support will be extended not only to lectures but also to textbooks, which are a significant financial burden.

By building a proprietary ‘Seoul-type education platform’ based on edutech, Seoul aims to respond to the rapidly changing digital environment and support personalized learning management. Currently, ‘Seoul Learn’ uses part of the Seoul Lifelong Learning Portal site without a separate platform, targeting a service launch in July next year. Without the need for ordinance enactment or institutional arrangements or building a dedicated platform, the expansion of extracurricular content and mentoring, which can be implemented immediately, are being promoted step-by-step. Regarding extracurricular content, since July 1st, language, certification, transfer admission, and liberal arts content (Hackers, Willa) have been added and provided.

Mentoring programs newly launched in the second half of the year include ‘Seoul Learn × Aramco Coding School’ to bridge the digital education gap, and the ‘Seoul Learn Senior Mentoring Program,’ which utilizes a pool of retired teachers to provide in-depth mentoring focused on learning guidance, aiming to meet diverse learning demands.

Furthermore, to mark the first anniversary of ‘Seoul Learn,’ Seoul city is selecting and operating ‘Seoul Learn Friends’ to make it easier for students and parents using Seoul Learn to propose suggestions. The first group of 19 members has been selected. They regularly provide opinions on the overall Seoul Learn project to the city and can participate with priority in various activities to promote Seoul Learn.

Seoul city plans to establish detailed ‘Seoul Learn 2.0’ promotion plans based on these contents by October.

Meanwhile, over the past year of the Seoul Learn pilot project, about 16,000 people have registered as Seoul Learn members and have used various contents such as curriculum content, career and college admission consulting, and certifications and language courses necessary for employment. Personalized learning management and counseling through one-on-one university student mentoring are also being conducted.

Lee Hoe-seung, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Lifelong Education Bureau, said, “As a result of continuous communication efforts with the central government, we have gained understanding and sympathy from the central government for the Seoul Learn project and led the consultation for establishing a social security system.” He added, “We will complete a more advanced version, ‘Seoul Learn 2.0,’ to build a bigger and stronger ladder of dreams so that vulnerable students who had to give up their dreams due to economic reasons can dream again and achieve those dreams.”

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