Gwangju City Councilor Lee Gwi-soon Holds Forum on Guaranteeing Educational Rights for Out-of-School Youth

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] A policy forum on guaranteeing the right to learn for out-of-school youth was held.

According to the Gwangju Metropolitan Council on the 16th, council member Lee Gwisoon held a policy forum the previous afternoon under the theme "Guaranteeing and Supporting the Educational Rights of Youth in Alternative Education Institutions."

This forum was organized to seek ways to improve the legal status and operational support of alternative schools in Gwangju following the enforcement of the Alternative Education Institutions Act since last year.

Council member Lee Gwisoon served as the chair, with presentations by researcher Choo Juhee (Chonnam National University Institute of Humanities, HK Research Professor), Secretary-General Cha Younghoe (Korea Alternative Education Institutions Association), and Executive Director Yoo Eunyoung (Teachers College for Life).

Discussants included Choi Youngsoon, Director of Policy at Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education; Song Heeyong, a graduate of the alternative school education space Orem; and Park Eunyoung, secretary of the Gwangju Alternative Education Institutions Council.

Researcher Choo Juhee pointed out, "With the enforcement of the Alternative Education Institutions Act, unified consultations regarding support between the city hall and the metropolitan office of education have faced difficulties," adding, "Even meal subsidies for alternative school students have been frozen at the previous year's level, causing alternative education sites to be marginalized in the realm of public support."

Secretary Park Eunyoung stated, "Due to disputes over responsibility regarding the support entities for Gwangju's alternative education institutions, students, teachers, and parents of these institutions continue their educational activities amid anxiety about the future," and emphasized, "A support consultative body including city hall, the metropolitan office of education, and alternative education institutions should be promptly established so that out-of-school youth can learn and grow stably without discrimination."

Council member Lee Gwisoon said, "Since the right and duty to receive education is stipulated in the Constitution for all citizens of the Republic of Korea, we will actively strive in the council to guarantee the learning rights of out-of-school youth who are in the blind spots of educational rights," and added, "To realize responsible education that does not abandon a single child, we will continue meetings between the field and the executive branch to seek ways to support the operation of alternative education institutions."

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