Recruiting 500 'Seoul Run Mentors'... Supporting Middle and High School Students to Overcome Learning Gaps

First Application by the 11th... Mentor Activities Until February Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 26th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will recruit 500 members for the ‘Seoul Run Mentoring Team’ to support the resolution of learning gaps among middle and high school students, in line with the resumption of new registrations for the Seoul-type education platform ‘Seoul Run’ for restoring the educational ladder after mid-February.

The mentoring team will play a role in recommending curricula and supporting users in setting study plans so that they can properly utilize the ‘Seoul Run’ content. The activity period for the mentoring team selected this time will last until February next year.

Unlike last year, Seoul City will expand mentoring to all ‘Seoul Run’ subscribers starting this year. Previously, the service was only provided to applicants among subscribers. In addition, incentives have been strengthened so that experienced mentors can continuously perform their roles as mentors, and the activity methods and schedules can also be chosen.

In addition to mentoring hours, various educational hours as well as pre- and post-preparation activities will be recognized as activity time up to a maximum of 20 minutes, and activity fees will be paid. Especially, if activities continue for more than 8 weeks, an additional 10-50% of the activity fee will be paid in proportion to the activity period.

Once finally selected as a mentor, participants will complete mandatory pre-education and orientation courses. Afterwards, they will be connected with the most suitable mentees according to the mentor conditions and begin full-scale mentoring activities. In particular, this year, the number of ‘Outstanding Mentoring Teams’ will be expanded to encourage users’ motivation to learn and to foster intimacy between mentors and mentees. Awards and prizes will also be given to the ‘Outstanding Mentoring Teams.’ Various affinity programs such as university visits will be newly operated to support the holistic growth of mentors and mentees together.

Seoul City plans to expand regular recruitment three times in total this year and occasional recruitment after the first regular recruitment by the 11th of next month. University (graduate) students who wish to apply can submit the relevant documents to their university’s scholarship department. Lee Dae-hyun, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Lifelong Education Bureau, said, “I hope that ‘Seoul Run Mentoring’ will be of some help to our youth who are struggling and wandering due to socio-economic problems without receiving academic support, helping them dream of tomorrow,” and added, “It will also provide meaningful social activity opportunities for university students and young people whose social experiences have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we hope for the long-term mutual growth of mentors and mentees.”