Gwangju Citizen Rights Committee to Hold On-Site Meeting with Jihan Elementary School Students on the 13th

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Citizens' Rights Committee announced on the 12th that on the 13th, it will hold an on-site meeting with children from Jihan Elementary School in Dong-gu to discuss two policy proposals submitted by 6th-grade students to the online policy proposal platform ‘BaroSotong Gwangju’.

This meeting was organized in celebration of Children's Day to allow children to experience the process of discussing participatory democracy policies.

The first proposal, suggested by six students, is the ‘Installation of Exercise Equipment.’ The students proposed installing exercise equipment such as hand grippers and dumbbells so that they can individually build physical strength, as physical activities have decreased due to the increase in online classes caused by COVID-19, leading to a decline in basic physical fitness.

They also made a confident claim that the physical strength developed during elementary school forms the foundation for middle and high school, so efforts should be made to maximize basic physical fitness during elementary school.

The second proposal, suggested by nine students, is about the lack of nearby middle schools, requiring them to take a bus to Mudeung Middle School. They pointed out that bus fares are an expense and many students transfer schools because of the distance, so they requested the prompt establishment of a middle school within walking distance.

The Citizens' Rights Committee reviewed opinions from relevant departments of the Office of Education and schools in advance to deliberate on the two proposals and decided to attend the on-site meeting to discuss them together.

Joo Jae-hee, the city's Innovation Communication Planning Officer, said, “This meeting is a meaningful occasion to be with children, the future leaders. I hope it will be a valuable time for them to experience that policies that change the daily lives of myself and my neighbors do not come from far away but start from my small participation.”