An Minseok: "I Will Open an Era Where Gyeonggi Specialized High School Graduates Become CEOs Instead of Going to College"

An Minseok, Preliminary Candidate for Gyeonggi Superintendent, Announces Policy Pledge
Building a Student Entrepreneurship Ecosystem to Foster Youth Entrepreneurs
"Gyeonggi Will Set the Standard for Specialized High School Entrepreneurship Education in Korea"

An Minseok, a preliminary candidate for Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, announced the 'Gyeonggi Infinite Challenge Entrepreneurship Education' policy pledge on the 18th. He plans to create a youth entrepreneurship ecosystem in collaboration with industry so that students at specialized high schools in the province can have opportunities to design their futures through entrepreneurship, and to secure related budgetary resources.

An Minseok, a preliminary candidate for Gyeonggi Province Superintendent of Education, announced the policy pledge for 'Gyeonggi Infinite Challenge Startup Education' on the 18th. Provided by candidate An Minseok.

The creation of a youth entrepreneurship ecosystem begins with innovation in the high school academic system. By introducing a 'specialized student entrepreneurship program' at specialized high schools, entrepreneurial activities will be recognized as part of the regular curriculum and on-site training. In addition, an 'entrepreneurship practicum credit system' linked to the high school credit system will be implemented.

Entrepreneurship practicums will utilize unused school spaces. School spaces that are becoming vacant due to declining student numbers will be converted into future industry entrepreneurship spaces, expanding industry-tailored entrepreneurship education with a focus on semiconductors, AI, bio, robotics, and future mobility sectors.

To ensure that students' entrepreneurial activities go beyond just conceptualizing ideas, each student team will be connected with field expert mentors in collaboration with the Gyeonggi Business and Science Accelerator (GBSA), companies, universities, and research institutes. This will help create an environment where entrepreneurial ideas can progress to research and development and commercialization.

Support for the post-entrepreneurship stage is also included. To help youth entrepreneurs' businesses establish themselves in the market, the Office of Education will support the purchase of their products and services, and will promote amendments to ordinances so that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and its affiliated organizations can give purchase priority. In addition, practical support for securing distribution channels will be provided through cooperation with related organizations and public institutions.

Opportunities for re-challenge after failure will also be guaranteed. Legal and financial protection systems will be established so that a record of business failure does not affect students' credit, and a standing panel of experts—including lawyers, tax accountants, certified public accountants, and labor attorneys—will be organized through the Gyeonggi Educational Entrepreneurship Support Center to provide ongoing support. Furthermore, the 'Re-Startup Challenge' program will be operated to analyze failure cases and assist students in making another attempt.

Financial resources for the implementation of the 'Gyeonggi Infinite Challenge Entrepreneurship Education' policy will be secured through multiple channels. By expanding the existing entrepreneurship support and incubation programs of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and GBSA to include youth entrepreneurs, approximately 3 billion won will be secured, and by linking startup support funds from central ministries such as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, an additional 3 billion won will be secured annually. Furthermore, an additional 2 billion won each will be sourced from private company startup support programs and ESG social contribution funds, as well as from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education's own budget, resulting in the creation of an annual fund totaling 10 billion won.

The secured budget will serve as seed capital for youth entrepreneurship. Through support that covers prototype development, patent applications and intellectual property acquisition, and the stages of commercialization and growth, a practical foundation for entrepreneurship will be established. The budget will also be used to operate entrepreneurship education programs at vocational high schools, specialized high schools, and Meister high schools.

Candidate An stated, "I will transform the futures of youth, which are currently tilted toward academics, into a time of diverse possibilities and challenges," and added, "I will open the path for students at specialized high schools in Gyeonggi to become job creators and future-opening CEOs."

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