Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, Leads Welfare Grand Compromise TF, Facilitates Agreement Between Seoul City and City Education Office... Support Ordinance Draft in Legislative Notice, Effective January 2021, Supporting About 4,000 New Students Next Year
Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu (left), is speaking at a press conference supporting the 2021 admission preparation funds for first-year middle and high school students.
[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) will provide entrance preparation funds to approximately 4,000 new students entering middle and high schools from next year, in collaboration with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Currently, the 'Seoul Special City Seongdong-gu Entrance Preparation Fund Support Ordinance' has been announced for legislative notice, taking swift steps to implement it from January 1, 2021.
On the 29th, the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Office of Education announced that starting with the 2021 new students entering middle and high schools, they will support 300,000 KRW per student regardless of income through Zero Pay to reduce the economic burden on students' families and strengthen the public nature of education.
Until now, to resolve confusion and welfare inequality caused by differentiated welfare benefits among autonomous districts, such as support for school uniform purchase costs in some districts and varying childbirth incentives by region, the Seoul Council of District Mayors formed the 'Special Committee for Welfare Grand Compromise' to establish a sustainable welfare system and has been making continuous efforts to solve these issues.
The committee, led by Seongdong-gu Mayor Jeong Won-oh, has been leading continuous consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Metropolitan Office of Education to expand the school uniform support project from some districts to all autonomous districts in Seoul under unified standards, and finally decided to jointly promote this project.
Initially, the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed a position that participation in the project was difficult due to budgetary reasons, and the project was promoted only by the Office of Education and autonomous districts as a half-measure, but through the continuous efforts of Mayor Jeong Won-oh and the committee, the original meaning of the project was realized.
Seongdong-gu Mayor Jeong Won-oh said, "Differing welfare benefits among autonomous districts not only cause inequality among residents but also lead to populist and competitive welfare expenditures between districts, placing a heavy burden on local government finances. I hope this support decision becomes an example that embodies the spirit of the welfare grand compromise, which calls for coordination of welfare roles between central and local governments as well as between metropolitan and basic local governments, and spreads nationwide."
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