"AI Textbooks, Up to 6 Trillion KRW Additional Funding Required for Subscription Fees Over 4 Years"

"Significant Increase in Burden on City and Provincial Offices of Education"
Separate Funding Measures Must Be Announced
Amendment of Grant Act, National Treasury Input, etc.

It is projected that the subscription fees that each city and provincial education office will have to bear over the next four years with the introduction of AI (Artificial Intelligence) digital textbooks could reach up to 6 trillion won. Currently, the digital textbook certification process is underway, and the price per textbook and the exact budget scale have not been disclosed.

According to the National Assembly Legislative Research Office on the 21st, Investigator Kim Beom-ju stated in the report titled "Prospects and Tasks for Local Education Finance Burden Due to the Introduction of AI Digital Textbooks," published on the 17th, that "the total subscription fee for AI digital textbooks over the next four years is expected to reach up to 6.6156 trillion won."

He pointed out, "Although it is expected that a large-scale investment in education finance by city and provincial education offices will be made due to the introduction of AI digital textbooks, the government has not calculated or disclosed the financial requirements of this project," adding, "The price per AI digital textbook is expected to be finalized in December, and considering that the submission deadline for the 2025 budget proposals of city and provincial education offices is until November, there is a high possibility that they will fail to prepare budgets for related projects, including subscription fees for AI digital textbooks, causing difficulties in securing the budget."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the plan announced earlier by the Ministry of Education, AI digital textbooks will be introduced next year for subjects such as English, Mathematics, Information, and Korean (special education) targeting 3rd and 4th graders in elementary school, 1st graders in middle school, and 1st graders in high school. By 2028, three years later, they are expected to be applied to all subjects including Korean, Social Studies, Science, and History. Currently, the certification process for the 18 AI digital textbooks to be introduced next year is underway. The main examination results were announced on September 24, and the final list of successful candidates is scheduled to be announced on the 29th of next month.

Investigator Kim anticipated a significant increase in the subscription fee expenditure for AI digital textbooks based on the increase in the Ministry of Education's budget for textbook and guidebook purchases in the next year's budget proposal compared to the previous year. Textbooks are operated by having city and provincial education offices execute the budget and directly provide them to each school. He stated, "The support amount for textbooks and guidebooks for national schools in the 2025 Ministry of Education budget proposal increased by 70.7% compared to the previous year," and added, "The increased budget amount compared to the previous year appears to largely reflect the costs required for subscription fees for AI digital textbooks." According to the budget proposal submitted by the Ministry of Education to the National Assembly for next year, 3.947 billion won has been allocated for textbook-related expenses.

[Source: National Assembly Legislative Research Office]

However, the report projected that "considering that AI digital textbooks will only be introduced for three subjects per grade next year, their price will be set significantly higher than that of printed textbooks." The monthly subscription fee per AI digital textbook was estimated to range from a minimum of 4,000 won to a maximum of 8,000 won.

Based on this, when forecasting financial requirement scenarios, it is expected that an additional budget of at least 1.9252 trillion won to a maximum of 6.0156 trillion won will be required for subscription fees over the four years from 2025 to 2028. Investigator Kim expressed concern, stating, "If no separate funding measures are prepared, it is highly likely that the autonomy of the special education finance accounts of city and provincial education offices will be restricted or the uniqueness of local education will be undermined," and added, "In particular, considering the estimation results, it is necessary to point out that the Ministry of Education has not disclosed the financial requirement estimates for this project, including the rough range of the price per AI digital textbook that it is considering."

He further argued that measures to increase expenses should be considered, such as extending the validity period under the Local Education Finance Grant Act or deleting the sunset provisions in the supplementary provisions. He also suggested the need to secure additional ordinary grants by abolishing the special grant temporary exception system or to prepare new project funds through national treasury input.

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