From Low-Income and Disabled to Seniors and Digital Learners: Busan City Launches Lifelong Education Voucher Program
by Kim Yongu
Published 24 Apr.2025 10:48(KST)
Updated 31 Jul.2025 13:43(KST)
Support for 6,832 Adults in Busan in Four Voucher Categories
350,000 Won per Person for Lifelong Learning Course Fees and Textbook Expenses
Busan City will launch a lifelong education voucher service for low-income and adult citizens with disabilities.
Busan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced that, starting April 24, applications for the 2025 Busan Metropolitan City Lifelong Education Voucher will be accepted from low-income adults and adults with disabilities.
The "Lifelong Education Voucher" is a system that provides financial support for education expenses in order to reduce disparities in lifelong education participation caused by social and economic conditions and to expand opportunities for lifelong learning.
The main eligible recipients are adults residing in Busan, including: ▲ low-income individuals (basic livelihood security recipients and the near-poor aged 19 or older), ▲ persons with disabilities (registered individuals with disabilities aged 19 or older), ▲ seniors (aged 65 or older), and ▲ those wishing to take lifelong education courses related to digital skills (aged 30 or older).
Starting this year, the program has been expanded to four types by introducing senior vouchers and digital vouchers (Artificial Intelligence·Digital AID Career Jump Pass), supporting a total of 6,832 people.
Until last year, only two types were provided: the general voucher for low-income individuals and the voucher for persons with disabilities. The support scale is as follows: ▲ general voucher for 4,980 people, ▲ voucher for persons with disabilities for 799 people, ▲ senior voucher for 468 people, and ▲ digital voucher for 585 people.
Learners selected as voucher recipients will receive 350,000 won in support (points), provided via an NH Nonghyup Card (Chaeum) issued in the learner's name, which can be used for lifelong education course fees and textbook expenses.
With the voucher, learners can take a variety of courses, including certification acquisition, entrepreneurship, language, humanities, and artificial intelligence (AI)·digital fields, at vocational training centers, lifelong education facilities, and lifelong vocational education academies. Voucher-accepting institutions can be checked on the city's lifelong education voucher website.
From 10:00 a.m. on April 24 to 6:00 p.m. on May 14, ▲ general vouchers (for low-income adults) can be applied for via the city’s lifelong education voucher website, and ▲ vouchers for persons with disabilities (registered individuals with disabilities) can be applied for through the Subsidy24 section of the Government24 website. Applications for senior and digital vouchers will be announced separately around June. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available spots, recipients will be selected through an online random draw.
Kim Guiok, Director of Youth-Industry Affairs at Busan City, stated, "We will spare no effort to provide various support so that Busan citizens can gain new knowledge and experiences in their desired fields regardless of age or circumstances," and added, "We hope that many people will take advantage of the lifelong education voucher to pursue self-development and enhance their life satisfaction."
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