New Student Enrollment Preparation Funds and Free High School Education... Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Allocates 970 Million KRW Budget for Next Year

9.742 Trillion KRW Submitted to Seoul Metropolitan Council
3.427 Trillion KRW Less Than This Year's Original Budget

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] A preparation fund of 300,000 KRW per person will be provided to new middle and high school students, and full free education will be implemented in high schools.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it will submit the 2021 budget proposal of 9.742 trillion KRW, which includes these measures, to the Seoul Metropolitan Council on the 30th. This is a decrease of 342.7 billion KRW compared to this year's main budget of 10.0847 trillion KRW.

Looking into the budget proposal, 22.6 billion KRW has been allocated for the Basic Academic Responsibility Guidance System, which places cooperative instructors in Korean, Mathematics, and English classes for 1st and 2nd graders in elementary school and 1st graders in middle school. Preparation funds for new middle and high school students amount to 32.6 billion KRW, and 262.1 billion KRW and 452.7 billion KRW have been secured for free high school education and free school meals, respectively.

To establish a school autonomous operation system, 49.6 billion KRW from 13 designated project funds have been converted into school operating expenses to expand financial autonomy that schools can tangibly feel. Additionally, 33.8 billion KRW has been allocated for the school autonomous operation system public contest project, an increase of 13.8 billion KRW compared to the previous year. Furthermore, 4.1 billion KRW for school fine dust management, 2.7 billion KRW for health instructor support, and 10.1 billion KRW for school cleaning staff wages have been allocated, totaling 29.8 billion KRW for health, meals, and physical activities.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, explained, "Although the resources are less than in 2020, the budget proposal prioritizes investment in projects that ensure basic academic skills, support preparation funds, complete free high school education and free school meals, and operate various curricula required by the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, such as remote classes triggered during the COVID-19 response process, thereby creating conditions to provide diverse educational activities to students."