Crowded Gwakdaehak-ro, Breathing Room... Gyeongnam Office of Education to Build Elementary and Middle Schools in Changwon Buk-myeon

Mudong 2-cho and Gamgye 2-jung Pass Internal Investment Review, Scheduled to Open in 2026

Gyeongnam Office of Education.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] The Gyeongnam Office of Education anticipates that the issue of overcrowded schools in Buk-myeon, Uichang-gu, Changwon City will be resolved.

The provincial Office of Education announced on the 14th that the proposals to establish the tentatively named Mudong 2 Elementary School and Gamgye 2 Middle School passed its internal investment review held that day.

The provincial Office of Education explained that it had repeatedly consulted the Local Education Finance Research Institute on the feasibility of establishing schools in the Gamgye and Mudong districts in preparation for the Ministry of Education’s central investment review, but the school establishment plans were canceled due to insufficient demand for new apartment developments.

Accordingly, the provincial Office of Education decided to establish the two schools as small-scale schools with budgets under 30 billion KRW, which can be established through internal investment review alone, without the Ministry of Education’s central investment review.

Mudong 2 Elementary School will be built on a 10,210㎡ site in Mudong-ri, Buk-myeon, with 15 classes and a student capacity of 361.

A total project cost of 23.8 billion KRW will be invested, and the school is scheduled to open in March 2026.

Gamgye 2 Middle School will be constructed on a 11,868㎡ site in Gamgye-ri, Buk-myeon, with a total project cost of 25 billion KRW.

It will have 15 classes and accommodate 430 students.

According to the provincial Office of Education, Mudong Elementary School, the only elementary school in the Mudong district of Buk-myeon, had 30 general classes when it opened in 2015 but currently operates as an overcrowded school with 53 classes as of 2022.

Gamgye Middle School had 24 general classes when it opened in 2016 and currently operates with 28 classes.

A provincial Office of Education official stated, “Overcrowded schools face difficulties in conducting normal curricula due to a lack of special classrooms. The gymnasium and cafeteria are also highly congested, making their use inconvenient, and in emergencies, there could be problems with students evacuating safely.”

They added, “More than 1,100 households are expected to move into the Mudong district, so by the 2025 academic year, the elementary school will have 64 classes, becoming an excessively large school. The Gamgye district is also expected to reach 47 classes by 2025, but simply reallocating classrooms or expanding them will not be sufficient to accommodate students.”

Heo Jaeyoung, Director of the School Support Division, said, “Creating an educational environment that resolves overcrowding is an essential condition to guarantee the quality of public education. We hope that by establishing Mudong 2 Elementary and Gamgye 2 Middle Schools to distribute students, we can realize a happy Gyeongnam education where children can study in a comfortable environment.”

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