Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education, 18-Year-Old First-Time Voters Participate in Election for the First Time

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education is conducting video training to strengthen election education capabilities. Photo by Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

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[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education announced on the 15th that 18-year-old first-time voters exercised their sovereignty for the first time in the 21st National Assembly election.

The Office of Education confirmed that about 5,500 18-year-old first-time voter students cast their precious votes in this election.

The Office plans to conduct 'visiting election education' for 142 high schools targeting 1st and 2nd-year high school students who will vote in the next election, in cooperation with the Jeonnam Election Commission, starting from the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, it will operate visiting election classrooms for elementary and middle schools to continuously establish follow-up measures according to the revised election law.

In particular, since the passage of the election law amendment by the National Assembly on December 27 last year, the Office has entered full-scale student election education mode starting with the 'Student Sovereignty Enhancement Plan' on January 7 and the 'Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Election Education Briefing.'

To this end, they began by announcing the Jeonnam election education promotion plan according to the revision of the Public Official Election Act, guided the revision of school rules and student life regulations containing prohibitions on political activities, conducted teacher training, student training, and promotional activities through SNS, and established a system that pops up videos and leaflets on the homepage for students' accessibility and links them immediately.

As a result, even without school reopening due to COVID-19, training was conducted to strengthen teachers' election education capabilities, with 5,582 participants from 142 high schools in the province as of last month.

Kim Seong-il, a 3rd-year student at Wando High School who voted for the first time in this election, said, "It was a new feeling to exercise the rights of the people in this election," and added, "I felt a sense of responsibility thinking that my small vote contributed to electing the country's workers."

Lee Byung-sam, Director of Democratic Citizenship Life Education, stated, "We will do our best to support various programs to strengthen the election education capabilities of prospective first-time voters so that students who will lead future society can grow as mature democratic citizens by exercising their rights as democratic citizens."

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