Gyeonggi Office of Education Reviews Support for Increased School Electricity and Gas Charges

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is currently considering increasing school operating expenses to provide additional support due to the rising burden of winter heating costs in schools caused by the recent sharp increase in public utility rates.

According to the Gyeonggi Office of Education on the 6th, based on the educational electricity and gas rates announced by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Samchully City Gas, the investigation of the rate increase showed that as of January this year, educational electricity rates rose by 33.1% and gas rates by 38.01% compared to the previous year.

Accordingly, the Gyeonggi Office of Education spent 135.8 billion KRW on electricity and gas fees for public and private schools of all levels last year. However, applying the rate increase as of January this year, an additional 49.7 billion KRW is required.

In fact, Suwon A Elementary School, which has a high proportion of gas heat pump (GHP) cooling and heating systems, paid 80,236,670 KRW for gas fees last year, but even if usage remains at the previous year's level applying this year's rates, gas fees are expected to exceed 100 million KRW.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education is seeking ways to provide additional support for school operating expenses through supplementary budgets to prevent the deterioration of school financial conditions due to the increase in public utility rates and to alleviate the burden of school cooling and heating expenses, ensuring smooth educational activities.

Seo Hye-jung, Policy Planning Officer at the Gyeonggi Office of Education, stated, "We will actively strive to prepare measures to increase school operating expenses in response to the rise in public utility rates to provide students with a comfortable learning environment."