Seodaemun-gu Promotes 'Smart Device Sharing' in Preparation for Online School Opening

Administrative Agency Support and 'Voluntary Sharing in Local Communities' Concurrently

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) is promoting a ‘Smart Device Sharing’ initiative in which the local community voluntarily participates in preparation for online school openings.

Following the unprecedented announcement of online school openings, Seoul City and its 25 autonomous districts have pledged to work closely with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to ensure students’ right to learn.

As part of this effort, on the 2nd of this month, Seoul City, the Office of Education, and the autonomous districts announced a plan to jointly fund 36.4 billion KRW to provide smart devices to approximately 52,000 low-income students.

Nevertheless, the district plans to secure additional smart devices because some students who are not eligible for the supply, such as those from ‘multi-child families,’ face difficulties with online learning.

The district will request participation from residents who own smart devices that can be donated and supply the donated or loaned devices to students in need upon requests from frontline schools and the Seoul Western Education Support Office.

The eligible devices for donation are ▲ laptops 13 inches or larger produced after 2015 ▲ Android tablets with version 5.0 or higher or iOS tablets with version 7.0 or higher (9.8 inches or larger).

Residents who wish to donate or loan smart devices can visit the Seodaemun-gu Office’s 4th floor Computer Information Division or one of the 14 community service centers. For loaned devices, students can use them for up to three months before returning them.

To prevent personal information leakage, the district will initialize all data on donated or loaned devices.

Additionally, if donating or loaning three or more devices, home collection service is available.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin of Seodaemun-gu stated, “We hope many residents will participate in the Smart Device Sharing initiative to overcome disparities in the online education environment.”

For inquiries, contact the Seodaemun-gu Office Computer Information Division.