Ministry of Education: "128,000 First Graders Benefit from Spring School in First Semester... Twice Last Year"

99.9% Resolution of Waiting List for After-School Care Classes

The Ministry of Education and 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education announced that approximately 128,000 first-grade elementary school students have benefited from Neulbom School, which began operation in March.

According to the Ministry of Education on the 12th, in the 2,741 schools operating Neulbom School this year, about 66,000 first graders (32.2%) used after-school care classrooms last year, but this year, 128,000 students (70.2%) are using Neulbom School.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The introduction of Neulbom School has also resolved the waiting list issue for elementary school after-school care classrooms. In March last year, there were 5,674 first-grade students on the waiting list for after-school care classrooms at schools operating Neulbom School, but this year, the number of waiting students has dropped to 8, resolving about 99.9% of the issue.

While teacher organizations claim that the introduction of Neulbom School has increased the workload of existing teachers, the Ministry of Education explained that 1.3 administrative staff members per school operating Neulbom School have been assigned to ensure that new tasks are not passed on to teachers. As of the previous day, 2,125 temporary teachers have been hired and assigned to schools operating Neulbom School. This is 125 fewer than the 2,250 temporary teachers allocated by the Ministry of Education to metropolitan and provincial offices of education in advance. For the first-grade customized program instructors at Neulbom School, 11,500 instructors have been secured. Among them, 83.2% are external instructors, and 16.8% are teachers.

The Ministry of Education is operating this month as a focused support period for the stabilization of Neulbom School on-site. The Ministry of Education and 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education plan to operate the 'Neulbom Call Center' to directly receive and promptly resolve complaints from parents and schools. Additionally, through the operation of the 'Ministry of Education - Office of Education Neulbom School On-site Support Team,' they will inspect the operation status of Neulbom Schools nationwide.

Meanwhile, the Seoul, Gwangju, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk Offices of Education plan to select and operate additional Neulbom Schools within this month. Seoul plans to increase the number of schools operating Neulbom School from 38 to 150, Gwangju from 32 to 45, Chungnam from 118 to 119, Jeonbuk from 75 to 140, and Gyeongbuk from 152 to 180.

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