Gyeonggi Education Office Allocates Additional 1.1016 Trillion Won in Supplementary Budget to Expand Autonomous Meal Selection Program

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education submitted the first supplementary budget proposal for the Gyeonggi Special Account for Educational Expenses to the Gyeonggi Provincial Council on May 29. The proposed budget totals 24.1656 trillion won, which is an increase of 1.1016 trillion won from the original budget of 23.064 trillion won.

According to the proposal, the main sources of revenue include 652.7 billion won from central government transfers, 68.4 billion won from local government transfers, and 457 billion won from net world surplus funds.

On the expenditure side, the budget allocates 23.9 billion won to expand the autonomous meal selection program, 6.5 billion won to create an environment for the operation of Neulbom Schools, and 1.6 billion won to expand the operation of Gyeonggi Shared Schools. The autonomous meal selection program is a school meal system that allows students to choose their food menu and portions, moving away from the previous uniform meal provision system.

The provincial office began piloting the program at 10 schools in 2022 and has expanded it each year. This year, it will be implemented at 527 schools, more than double the 250 schools covered last year.

In the area of supporting safe schools to expand public education, the budget includes 335 billion won for new school construction and expansion, and 123.5 billion won for improving educational environments and facility safety.

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education

For education that fosters capabilities through school autonomy and responsibility, the budget allocates 22.5 billion won for special education support, 2.3 billion won for the operation of the basic academic achievement accountability system, and 1.1 billion won for academic assessment management to develop achievement- and essay-based evaluations.

Other allocations include 6.8 billion won to expand the deployment of digital tutors to strengthen digital teaching and learning environments in schools, and 3.5 billion won to support Gyeonggi Online School, which provides customized content and platform development for students, parents, and teachers.

Gal Inseok, the budget officer of the provincial office, said, "This supplementary budget proposal was prepared with a focus on providing diverse, customized learning opportunities for students and strengthening support for safe schools."

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