"Even Special Schools Overlooked in Priority Purchase of Products Made by Persons with Severe Disabilities"

29 Public Institutions Fall Short of 1% Mandatory Purchase Rate
Kim Moon-soo Calls for Review of System Implementation Effectiveness

Assemblyman Kim Moon-soo

Although the priority purchase of products produced by people with severe disabilities is legally mandated, it has been revealed that even special schools are ignoring this obligation.

On the 18th, Kim Moon-soo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong, and Gurye Gap), analyzed the "2023 Status of Institutions Falling Short of Purchasing Products Produced by People with Severe Disabilities" submitted by the Ministry of Education. The analysis showed that 29 public institutions under the Ministry of Education, including special schools, national and public universities, and administrative committees, failed to meet the legally required purchase ratio of 1% for products produced by people with severe disabilities.

The types of institutions falling short include special schools such as Hanguk Seonjin School at 0.8% and Seoul Agricultural School at 0.67%, and the administrative committee, the Teacher Appeal Review Committee, at 0.91%. Among these, the institution with the lowest purchase ratio was the national public university Busan National University at 0.13%. On the other hand, the institution with the highest purchase ratio was also a national public university, Cheongju National University of Education, at 0.99%. The average priority purchase rate of public institutions under the Ministry of Education that fell short of the legal mandatory purchase ratio of 1% was 0.54%. Among public institutions, 16 places including Busan National University, Chungnam National University, Hankyung National University, and Jeju National University were below this average.

According to the "Study on Improvement of the Priority Purchase System for Products Produced by People with Severe Disabilities: Focusing on Public Institutions, etc." published by the Korea Disabled People's Development Institute in 2023, although 15 years have passed since the enactment of the "Special Act on Priority Purchase of Products Produced by People with Severe Disabilities," 47.1% of public institutions have not achieved the legally mandated purchase ratio of 1%.

While there are awards for institutions with excellent performance in priority purchasing of products produced by people with severe disabilities, the lack of separate measures for institutions that fail to meet the target or have no performance at all is also a problem. The current law requires that the purchase performance of products produced by people with severe disabilities must be included in the evaluation of affiliated institutions, and the government can request corrective actions for institutions that fall short of the priority purchase standard. However, due to insufficient institutional support, the system has become ineffective.

Representative Kim said, "Institutions under the Ministry of Education need active cooperation and a change in awareness to expand the priority purchase of products produced by people with severe disabilities in order to fulfill their social responsibility as public institutions," and added, "The government should review measures to ensure the system produces practical effects along with corrective actions for institutions that ignore priority purchasing."

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