First Case of Designating Ium Schools for General Middle and High Schools in Seoul
Reducing Principals to One and Integrating School Facilities Management
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Ilsan Girls' Middle School and Jamsil Girls' High School, located in Songpa-gu, Seoul, will be operated as the first Ieum School among general middle and high schools.
On the 8th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced the administrative notice for the designation of Ieum School for Ilsin Girls' Middle School and Jamsil Girls' High School, operated by the Seoul Hakwon School Foundation in Songpa-gu, and stated that after pilot operation and preliminary preparations, it will be officially operated from March.
An Ieum School refers to a school operated by integrating human and material resources of two or more schools of different school levels due to a decrease in the number of students. In Seoul, three schools are currently operating as Ieum Schools: Haenuri Elementary and Middle School, Gangbit Elementary and Middle School, and Seoul Sports Middle and High School.
The two schools will integrate the operation of educational activities and educational resources. The principal of Jamsil Girls' High School will concurrently serve as the principal, and the school operation committee, accounting, and property will also be integrated. The parent association and student council will operate separately.
Facilities and equipment such as the cafeteria, playground, gymnasium, principal's office, administrative office, student council room, special rooms (music room, home economics room, art room, library), and student lounge will also be shared.
In addition, programs such as joint career fairs, thematic explorations, school newspaper production, growth workbooks, mentoring between middle and high school students, teacher learning communities, preparatory courses for 3rd-year middle school students, joint in-school events for music, art, and physical education, joint invitation of literature, arts, and physical education instructors and parent lectures, offline shared communication spaces, online 'Ieum School Room,' and joint YouTube channels will be promoted.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will provide 1 billion KRW as an incentive for integrated operation under the Local Education Finance Grant Act. Priority will be given to projects improving educational environments such as renovation of aging facilities, school complexification including gymnasiums, and spatial restructuring, and these will be preferentially considered in various new policy projects.
Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "We will expand support to ensure the Ieum School model can be stably established in the future, and discover and improve various future-oriented integrated operation school models and related policies."
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