KAIST and Chungnam National University Student Mentors Participate in Operating 'Daejeon Online Night School'

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The 'Daejeon Online Night School,' in which KAIST and Chungnam National University students participate as mentors, will be operated.

The Daejeon City government announced on the 24th that it will operate the Daejeon Online Night School in cooperation with KT Chungnam-Chungbuk Regional Headquarters and the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education.

The Online Night School is a non-face-to-face (online) program designed to support after-school learning for local middle school students by young mentors facing economic difficulties due to COVID-19.

The program will be operated with 30 students from KAIST and Chungnam National University participating as mentors, with each mentor responsible for three mentee middle school students to conduct classes.

Classes will be conducted for 4 hours per week over 3 months, focusing on subjects desired by the mentees, using an educational technology platform (KT EDU) that enables real-time interactive video classes. In addition, the Online Night School also provides counseling on concerns such as grades, career paths, and peer relationships.

Ninety mentee students were finally selected through teacher recommendations and parental consent among middle school students who have a strong willingness to participate in classes but face difficulties in managing remote classes and self-directed learning.

University students participating as mentors will receive a certain amount of activity fees as scholarships from KT to help young people manage their careers and economic activities, as part-time job opportunities have decreased due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, the city signed a business agreement with KT in May and prepared this program. With the cooperation of the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education, the Daejeon Online Night School will be operated from next month until November.

Park Moon-yong, Director of the Youth and Family Bureau of the city, said, “The Daejeon Online Night School is meaningful in that it helps bridge the gap between regions and social classes in the COVID-19 era and supports youth social and sharing activities,” adding, “The city will spare no support to ensure that all program participants achieve satisfactory results.”