Gyeongbuk Provincial Office of Education to Provide 10,000 Won Gift Certificates to All Students from Kindergarten to High School

Voucher worth 2.94 billion KRW distributed to 294,000 residents in the province
Superintendent Lim Jong-sik: "Helps revitalize the economy through traditional market experience"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] The Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education announced on the 1st that it provided one 10,000 won gift certificate per student as a traditional market experience activity fee to all 294,000 students in all kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools in the province.

The Office of Education recently distributed the 2.94 billion won in supplementary budget funds, reflected in the May supplementary budget, as operating expenses to all schools including private schools, and each school independently purchased traditional market gift certificates and distributed them to students.

The Office of Education explained that they encourage the use of these gift certificates by August to actively participate in revitalizing local traditional markets, which have been depressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gyeongbuk Province allowed learning programs centered on traditional market experiences to be autonomously operated at the class level or in family experience formats, linked to each school's curriculum.

An official from the Gyeongbuk Office of Education said, "We have not confirmed whether this is the first nationwide case of providing gift certificates to all students," adding, "Besides providing gift certificates, a significant portion of the budget secured through the supplementary budget has been spent on experiential activities at each school."

Superintendent Lim Jong-sik stated, "Through this traditional market experience, I hope it becomes an opportunity for our community to properly understand our region and recognize the importance of economic activities, and that we overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible to revitalize the local economy."