From This Year, Even Urban Middle School Students... Gyeongnam Office of Education Expands Long-Distance School Bus Service

Ordinance Enactment, Additional Budget Allocation, and Vehicle Increase

The Gyeongnam Office of Education will expand the operation of school buses to alleviate the inconvenience of long-distance commuting starting this year.

The provincial office announced on the 4th that the school bus support, which was previously provided to students of rural schools, will now be extended to middle school students commuting long distances in urban areas.

Since the full implementation of the middle school wide-area school district system last year, which allows students to attend middle schools outside their district without changing their address, the number of long-distance commuting students has increased, leading to greater commuting inconvenience.

Flag of Gyeongnam Office of Education.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

In response, the provincial office enacted the Gyeongnam Office of Education Rural School Student Commuting Support Ordinance in 2020, followed by the Gyeongnam Office of Education Student Commuting Support Ordinance last year.

This year, an additional budget of 5 billion KRW has been allocated to increase the number of commuting vehicles by about 140, operating approximately 1,030 vehicles.

According to the provincial office, the support for commuting vehicles targets middle school students who commute over 5 km or more than 30 minutes by public transportation.

The service operates based on the requests of parents from the respective schools, with a minimum operation capacity of 13 passengers per bus.

An official from the provincial office stated, “We will expand support for commuting convenience to reduce the burden on parents regarding their children's commuting and provide comprehensive and systematic support so that students can attend school more safely and comfortably.”

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