Busan Office of Education Expands Support for Student Counseling Programs

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will expand support for counseling programs such as ‘One Meal Counseling’ to support students' psychological and emotional well-being in the 2023 academic year.

The counseling programs supported based on school needs include ▲One Meal Counseling ▲Customized Group Counseling ▲Customized Individual Counseling. One Meal Counseling will be supported in all schools, Customized Group Counseling will be operated by recruiting 150 schools, and Customized Individual Counseling will be operated by recruiting 50 schools.

Busan Office of Education.

‘One Meal Counseling,’ first implemented in 2017, is a program where teachers and students have counseling while sharing a meal, providing an opportunity for comfortable communication.

Since it allows open-hearted conversations by sharing interests and concerns in a permissive atmosphere, the satisfaction level on site is high. While it was operated in middle and high schools, it will be expanded to elementary schools in the 2023 academic year.

A budget of 1 million to 3 million KRW per school is provided, with 15,000 KRW per meal for food expenses, and the program can be freely operated inside or outside the school.

One Meal Counseling targets not only students in crisis but all students, making it highly effective for early detection and prevention of crisis situations. It is also expected to greatly contribute to fostering a culture of mutual respect through enhanced understanding and trust between teachers and students, as well as preventing infringement of teachers' authority.

Kim Beom-gyu, Director of the Department of Physical Education and Health at the City Office of Education, said, “Our Office of Education has prepared various counseling programs to help students recover psychologically and emotionally and improve relationships. We will continue to spare no support for students' healthy growth and happy school life.”