Gwangju Office of Education Recruiting Autonomous Schools for 2026 Academic Year

Until October 2

The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education will be accepting applications for "Autonomous Schools for the 2026 academic year" until October 2. Autonomous Schools are a type of "Gwangju-style Future School," which began with 107 schools in 2023, expanded to 141 schools in 2024, and has grown to 163 schools this year.

Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education

According to the Office of Education on September 18, eligible applicants include public standalone kindergartens, public elementary schools, and public and private middle, high, and special schools. However, innovation schools, research schools, specialized high schools, and special-purpose schools are excluded.

Selected schools will receive financial support ranging from 10 million to 31 million won, depending on their size. Starting in March next year, they must operate a curriculum for one year that includes one mandatory project and one or two recommended projects.

The nine mandatory projects cover topics such as future education, academic achievement improvement, climate and ecological environment, and educational welfare. The four recommended projects include vision sharing, character education, basic academic skills, and support for teachers' instruction.

To ensure stable operations, the Office of Education will move up the selection schedule so that funding can be included in next year’s main budget, and will release a collection of best practices on its website to reduce administrative workload. According to a survey of staff at Autonomous Schools this year, 93.7% of respondents expressed a desire to participate again.

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