Seodaemun-gu, First in Seoul to Establish Wireless Internet Network in All Schools

Support for Wireless AP, PoE Switch, and Optical Cable Construction with 1.4 Billion Won Budget

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) will establish wireless internet networks in all schools within the district for the first time in Seoul to ensure students can smoothly participate in digital classes.

The district will provide 1,521 wireless APs and 184 PoE switches to 30 elementary, middle, and high schools (17 elementary, 6 middle, 7 high) and 4 affiliated kindergartens within the area.

The approximately 1.4 billion KRW budget required for equipment purchases and optical cable construction for this project will be fully supported by Seodaemun-gu through its education expense subsidy fund.

The Western Education Support Office will conduct demand surveys by school and handle joint equipment procurement, while each school will carry out installation work, aiming to complete the wireless infrastructure construction within this month.

For reference, among the total 40 elementary, middle, and high schools in Seodaemun-gu, 10 schools have already established wireless infrastructure with support from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Seodaemun-gu.

Additionally, Seodaemun-gu has invested 570 million KRW this year to expand smart classrooms and 600 million KRW to create maker space areas through education expense subsidy budgets (district funds), supporting talent development for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era.

Moreover, on March 30 of this year, Seodaemun-gu signed a business agreement with the Western Education Support Office and in April provided smart devices to approximately 1,460 students eligible for educational welfare, as well as webcams, microphones, and stands to schools to facilitate smooth remote classes.

With the establishment of this wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi networks will operate in each classroom, making education using smart devices more seamless.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, stated, “Currently, both in-person and online classes are being conducted due to COVID-19, and remote classes may be necessary in the future, so we proactively promoted the establishment of wireless infrastructure in all schools.”

This project by Seodaemun-gu is expected to become a model case of collaboration among local governments, education support offices, and schools to ensure “smooth online learning amid COVID-19” and “the creation of a future-oriented digital learning foundation for schools.”