Incheon Volunteer Firefighters' University Scholarship Realization... Amendment Passed by City Council Standing Committee

University scholarships provided to volunteer firefighters and their children in the Incheon area are expected to increase.

The Incheon City Council announced that the 'Partial Amendment to the Ordinance on the Payment of Scholarships for Volunteer Firefighters in Incheon,' which was proposed by Shin Young-hee (Guk·Ongjin), a member of the Administrative Safety Committee, was passed by the standing committee on the 5th.

The amendment mainly aims to raise the scholarship payment standards for volunteer firefighters and their children currently enrolled in universities, increasing the rate from 150% to 200% of the annual tuition fee for first-grade high schools (1,400,400 KRW), which is set by the 'Incheon City School Tuition and Admission Fee Ordinance Enforcement Rules.'

Accordingly, if the amendment passes the plenary session and is implemented, the annual scholarship of 2,100,600 KRW (1,053,000 KRW per semester) is expected to rise by about 700,000 KRW (33%) to 2,808,000 KRW (1,404,000 KRW per semester).

The current scholarship payment standard (150%) was fully revised in 2017 according to the National Fire Agency's standard case across 17 cities and provinces nationwide, providing about 2.1 million KRW. However, this amount falls significantly short of the average tuition fee per student of 6,795,000 KRW at four-year general and education universities.

Representative Shin said, "The purpose of this amendment is to expand educational opportunities for volunteer firefighters and their children currently attending university by increasing the scholarship payment standards, and to promote the welfare of volunteer firefighters serving the local community." She added, "If passed in the plenary session, it will also contribute to improving the welfare of volunteer firefighters, who are service groups, and have a positive effect on boosting morale."

Meanwhile, the volunteer firefighting corps is a civilian volunteer organization composed of local residents in charge of systematically assisting firefighting duties such as fire suppression, rescue, and first aid, in accordance with the 'Act on the Establishment and Operation of Volunteer Firefighting Corps.'

Shin Young-hee, Incheon City Council Member [Photo by Incheon City Council]

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