Pocheon City Achieves Selection of Five "Self-Directed Learning Centers" by Ministry of Education, the Most Nationwide

Pocheon City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Younghyeon) announced on September 2 that five locations within the city have been selected for the Ministry of Education's "2025 Self-Directed Learning Center Public Project."

Pocheon City Hall exterior. Provided by Pocheon City.

For this project, 77 centers from 14 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide applied, and 50 centers were ultimately selected. Of these, Pocheon City accounted for five out of the 13 centers chosen in Gyeonggi Province, marking the highest number of selected centers among all cities nationwide.

The newly designated centers are as follows: Pocheon EduCare Platform (Soheul-eup), Ildong Municipal Library (Ildong-myeon), Idong Small Library (Idong-myeon), Yeongbuk Municipal Library (Yeongbuk-myeon), and Gwanin Middle and High School (Gwanin-myeon), totaling five locations. These centers have been distributed evenly across the region, taking into account Pocheon's geographical characteristics. Each center is expected to receive approximately 250 million won in operating funds from the Ministry of Education.

Self-Directed Learning Centers are public learning spaces that support elementary, middle, and high school students in studying independently without relying on private education. They are equipped with a variety of learning environments, including individual reading rooms, focused study rooms, and lounges. In addition, they offer learning management services linked to the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) through learning coordinators.

With this selection, Pocheon City has established learning hubs connected to local infrastructure. The city expects these centers to provide balanced learning opportunities for students, help reduce private education expenses, and contribute to narrowing the educational gap.

Mayor Baek Younghyeon stated, "Securing five Self-Directed Learning Centers reflects the citizens' aspirations for guaranteeing youth learning rights and expanding educational welfare," adding, "We will continue to actively support students so they can pursue self-directed learning anytime and anywhere."

The selected centers will open sequentially starting in mid-September. Pocheon City plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Education, Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, and Pocheon Office of Education to provide practical learning programs for students.

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