Haenam-gun Designated as Education Development Special Zone... 10 Billion Won National Funding Support

June Opportunity Development Zone Followed by Selection of Pilot Area for Education Development Zone 'Great Achievement'

Noted for Innovation in Education Model... Fostering Green Talent and Establishing Specialized Education System

Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, has been designated as a pilot area for the Education Development Special Zone, a government policy project leading local educational innovation, and will receive up to 10 billion KRW in national funding.

According to the county on the 30th, the Education Development Special Zone is a project where local governments, education offices, universities, companies, and public institutions collaborate to establish a comprehensive support system for educational innovation, local talent cultivation, and settlement to promote regional development, aiming to bridge the educational gap between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.

Along with financial support from the central government, autonomy is granted to local areas to establish specialized educational models focused on regional characteristics and areas of interest, and to reorganize the education system based on special provisions for this purpose.

Additionally, benefits such as relaxation of various regulations, expansion of curriculum autonomy, and priority support for educational reform tasks are provided, making it one of the two major special zones alongside the Opportunity Development Special Zone.

Haenam-gun Office Building Exterior View

The Haenam-gun Education Development Special Zone has set the goal of ‘Cultivating Green Talent Returning to Haenam’ and has organized four major strategies with 29 detailed tasks. The main contents include △ Community care ‘Edu-care to the Land’s End’ △ ‘Community-based Joint and Linked Education’ for regional educational innovation and co-growth △ Glocal specialized education ‘Haenam Green Talent Specialized Education’ △ Industry-academia linked workforce development ‘Haenam Green Job Support,’ focusing on these strategies to promote pilot projects.

These achievements are evaluated to have been possible because County Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan, county officials, Jeollanam-do Governor Kim Young-rok, local National Assembly member Park Ji-won, and Haenam Office of Education Superintendent Lee Ja-young worked together in unity and actively supported the application and designation of the special zone.

Last month, with two sites designated as Opportunity Development Special Zones, it is expected that the attraction of advanced companies centered on new renewable energy, such as the Global Data Center and Offshore Wind Power Equipment Complex, will increase, making the revision of the local education curriculum to cultivate talent in related fields and improve the educational environment for better settlement conditions a core task.

Moreover, large-scale national projects such as the Agricultural Food Climate Change Response Center, Carbon Neutral Edu Center, Green Convergence Cluster, and Fisheries Equipment and Aquaculture Cluster are being launched in full swing, which is expected to play a significant role in establishing a workforce development system that can respond to the talent demand in advanced industries such as climate, environment, renewable energy, and data industries.

Through the operation of the special zone, the county plans to make global smart education as green talent a daily practice from elementary and middle school levels, while establishing a platform linking to corporate jobs through programs such as creative convergence courses for green talent at local high schools, specialized high school curricula, expanded university admissions, and contract departments.

In particular, the Haenam-gun Education Foundation (Chairman Myeong Hyeon-gwan), launched in July last year, has laid the groundwork for innovation and development of local education, and is drawing nationwide attention with a county-wide campaign to raise 50 billion KRW for scholarship funds by 2032. Additionally, since the foundation’s launch last year, the education support budget has been increased by more than 4 billion KRW this year, focusing on improving the educational environment and expanding scholarship projects.

Prior to this special zone designation, agreements were also signed with regional universities such as Mokpo National University, Suncheon National University, Seoul National University, Jeonnam Yeosu National University, and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) to foster local industry talent and provide specialized education.

Governor Myeong Hyeon-gwan stated, “Proactive responses for local educational innovation, such as improving the educational environment and expanding scholarship projects, have led to the great achievement of being designated as an Education Development Special Zone,” and explained, “If the Opportunity Development Special Zone has taken a big step toward securing growth engines through job creation and corporate attraction, the Education Development Special Zone holds the greatest significance in cultivating customized green talent for improving youth settlement conditions and creating sustainable jobs.”

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