Goheung County - Goheung Office of Education Agreement on Utilizing Closed Schools... Joining Hands for Regional Coexistence

Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gong Young-min) and the Jeollanam-do Goheung Office of Education (Superintendent Park Kyung-hee) held a 'Closed School Utilization Business Agreement Ceremony' on May 2nd at the Palyongsan Hall in the county office.

The agreement ceremony focused on utilizing closed school facilities, which have arisen due to the decrease in the number of students in rural areas, to support the stable settlement of young people wishing to return to farming and rural areas, and to revitalize small schools to become schools that attract students, aiming for a population of 100,000 in Goheung in 10 years through mutual cooperation between the two organizations.

[Photo by Goheung-gun]

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The main contents of the agreement include ▲ priority negotiation for unused closed schools managed by the Goheung Office of Education ▲ priority consultation on utilization plans for closed schools whose lease contracts have expired ▲ securing budgets and administrative procedures for prompt project promotion ▲ adaptation education and commuting convenience support for students entering school districts of sold closed schools. Through this business agreement, both organizations agreed to actively respond to population decline and continuously cooperate in revitalizing small schools.

Governor Gong Young-min said, “To establish the foundation for a population of 100,000 in Goheung in 10 years, it is most important to create housing and living infrastructure so that returnees to farming and rural areas and young people can settle stably in the region,” adding, “We will prepare various plans to utilize closed schools through close consultations with the Goheung Office of Education to overcome the crisis of regional extinction.”

Superintendent Park Kyung-hee stated, “Closed schools are meaningful places imbued with the history of the region and can play a role as a pillar driving the development of Goheung-gun through community return,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure that students can grow with pride by closely cooperating with Goheung-gun.”

Meanwhile, Goheung-gun is promoting various infrastructure projects such as regional land development and public rental housing projects to create residential conditions by utilizing idle sites and buildings in the region. These include the Youth Rural Settlement at Gwanri Elementary School in Doyang-eup and the Youth Public Rental Housing project at Sinan Elementary School branch in Jeomam-myeon.

Goheung = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shim Jung-woo hss79@asiae.co.kr

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