Ministry of Science and ICT Strengthens Digital Education for Protected Children and Youth Preparing for Independence

The Ministry of Science and ICT will support digital education for children under protection and young adults preparing for independence.

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the "Digital-Based Support Plan for Young Adults Preparing for Independence" at the Social Relations Ministers' Meeting. Young adults preparing for independence are adolescents who have been under protection such as child welfare facilities or foster care and are stepping into society alone upon turning 18. About 2,000 individuals begin their independence each year, but they face difficulties due to a lack of social support systems.

To close the educational gap for children in child welfare facilities, support will be provided for AI-based education and learning, reading ability diagnosis and improvement services, and psychological counseling. AI tutor solutions offering customized educational content and aptitude tests will enhance the basic learning capabilities of children in child welfare facilities. For literacy improvement, dyslexia will be diagnosed through AI-based eye-tracking and analysis. Based on this, level-appropriate content will be provided to support sentence and paragraph reading comprehension training.

To strengthen the digital capabilities of young adults preparing for independence, customized digital education will be provided along with additional growth opportunities such as linkage to higher education courses. For young adults preparing for independence who find it difficult to participate in intermediate and advanced courses aimed at employment or entrepreneurship due to a lack of basic digital skills, level-based beginner and intermediate software education courses will be planned and operated. A close mentoring program will be offered to support stable course completion and career exploration by checking progress and resolving difficulties.

Career support will also be promoted. Through employment special lectures and interview events, job matching between companies wishing to hire within research and development zones and young adults preparing for independence will be supported. Digital career planning, employment competency education, and connections to local company employment for young adults preparing for independence will be promoted through the Digital Problem Solving Center. Additionally, based on cooperation between the public and private sectors in the digital field, counseling and advisory (mentoring) activities among young adults preparing for independence will be supported to help their stable social settlement, and digital job experiences and digital donations will be activated.

Park Yoon-gyu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "Our society needs to carefully attend to the loneliness and hardships that young adults preparing for independence face when stepping out alone into society," adding, "Just like general young adults opening the digital era, this plan was prepared to ensure that digital technology guarantees fair opportunities for young adults preparing for independence and becomes a stepping stone for new challenges and growth."

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