A Civic Group in Gwangju Calls for Discussion on Student Meals Due to Online Classes

Citizen Group for a Society Without Academic Elitism Urges Conversion of Free School Meal Budget to 'Education Disaster Relief Fund'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Amid the ongoing online classes due to COVID-19, there are criticisms that the support for the 'free school meals' managed by the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education is not systematic.

The Citizens' Group for a Society Without Academic Elitism urged on the 20th, "The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education should not let the budget for free school meals in kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools in the Gwangju area go unused, but convert the free meal funds into 'education disaster relief funds' so that students' lunch needs can be met."

The group stated, "With the extension of social distancing due to the spread of COVID-19, parents are increasingly worried about their children's daily meals," adding, "In this actual disaster situation, the Office of Education hesitates to discuss universal educational welfare such as school meals (lunch) that it is responsible for."

They continued, "Among metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide, Ulsan has decided to consider providing unused free meal budgets during the COVID-19 period as education disaster relief funds (100,000 KRW per student), and Daegu has decided to exempt tuition and school operation support fees for first-year high school students for six months."

However, "The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education is only providing passive support such as PC distribution, internet installation, and purchasing local agricultural products by staff, as well as temporary reductions of shared property fees related to the government's online school opening initiative," and "Support for vulnerable students struggling to maintain their livelihoods due to the disaster (about 90 welfare schools) is left to the autonomy of individual schools, and support for hygiene products, daily necessities, teaching materials, and educational tools for vulnerable students outside welfare schools is either passive or unsystematic," they criticized.

Furthermore, "The Gwangju Metropolitan Student Rights Ordinance mandates policies and budgets to consider students who face difficulties in exercising their rights due to poverty, disability, multicultural backgrounds, and other familial, economic, social, and cultural reasons," and "The Office of Education needs to discuss with local governments to ensure students' lunch needs are met," they argued.

Along with this, they added, "The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education should actively provide living and educational support for vulnerable students."