Seoul City-Education Office-Districts, Laptop Support for Vulnerable Students

Seoul Metropolitan District Mayors' Council Agrees to Provide Online Learning Devices to Educationally Disadvantaged Students... Closely Cooperating with Seoul City and Education Office to Prevent Learning Rights Violations Due to COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] The Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Chairman Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu) held an emergency meeting with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education at 7:30 a.m. on April 1 at Seoul City Hall, deciding to lend laptops to approximately 52,000 legally low-income students.

At the meeting, it was agreed to work together to ensure that students vulnerable to educational disadvantages can fully access online learning, so that there will be no infringement on their right to education amid the unprecedented online school opening.

Due to COVID-19, the new semester opening has been postponed four times, and with the phased online school opening confirmed from April 9, various concerns have been raised about the remote learning being implemented for the first time in history.

In particular, for vulnerable groups, the sudden online school opening amid significant digital gaps is more than an inconvenience; it inevitably becomes an insurmountable burden.

To resolve this, the 25 district mayors of Seoul held a joint meeting with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. At the meeting, it was decided that the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Office of Education, and the autonomous districts will each bear 40%, 40%, and 20% of the costs respectively to purchase and provide (lend) smart devices (laptops) for online learning to educationally vulnerable students.

The number of legally low-income students is approximately 52,000, and the cost is expected to be about 36.4 billion KRW (700,000 KRW per device). The Office of Education plans to accurately identify the exact quantity as soon as possible and make a final request.

Going forward, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors has resolved to expand district-specific educational expense support to distribute various educational contents and to maintain close cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Office of Education to ensure that students’ right to education is not infringed due to COVID-19.