Busan Office of Education Undertakes Organizational Restructuring ... Lays Foundation for Key Campaign Projects

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Doo-yeol] The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will carry out an organizational restructuring effective March 1 to establish a foundation for promoting key pledges of the 5th elected superintendent, and to enhance operational efficiency in response to changes in the educational administrative environment and demand.

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education focused this reorganization on maintaining the current organizational structure as much as possible while addressing long-standing regional educational issues such as "resolving educational disparities between regions," "balanced growth in academic achievement and character," and "active support for school sites."

With this reorganization, the city education office will be restructured from 3 bureaus, 2 departments, 1 research institute, 15 divisions, and 64 teams to 3 bureaus, 3 departments, 1 research institute, 15 divisions, and 69 teams. The education support offices will be reorganized from 2 bureaus, 6 divisions, and 19 teams to 2 bureaus, 6 divisions, and 20 teams.

Additionally, a "Regional Educational Disparity Resolution Task Force" will be newly established to eliminate the deepening educational gap within the Busan area by enhancing students' educational capabilities, supporting educational activities, and fostering an educational environment where local residents and schools coexist and cooperate.

Furthermore, an "Education Hope Team" will be created to support educational activities for marginalized students such as out-of-school youth, alternative education students, and students who have recently immigrated. A "Student Counseling Team" will also be established to provide school violence prevention education, healing and counseling for victim and perpetrator students, and support for relationship restoration.

To build a foundation for "character-based academic achievement," the city education office will establish a "Character Education Team," the central department for student character education, and a "Library Support Team" to support the activation of reading education in schools and public libraries.

In addition, to respond quickly to overcrowded classes, the existing "Student Placement Team" will be divided into the "Student Placement Team" and the "School Establishment Team." For appropriate budget formulation and sound financial management, the "Budget Team" will be split into the "Budget Planning Team" and the "Budget Operation Team."

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education.

The education office plans to strengthen support for school sites by reorganizing the school support divisions of the five education support offices so that staff can focus on educational activities.

The after-school program support, which was previously piloted by the city education office, will be transferred to the "Educational Activity Support Team" within the school support division, and the number of supported schools will be significantly expanded from 100 elementary schools to all 305 elementary schools.

Also, a "School Violence Response Team" will be newly established within the secondary education support division, transferring school violence-related tasks from the school support division. Regional cooperative care tasks will also be promoted in alignment with the Ministry of Education's Neulbom School project.

The education office will establish the "Youth Culture and Arts Dream Group" under the Student Arts and Culture Center to support "performances visiting schools" in collaboration with local cultural and arts organizations.

The names of departments and affiliated institutions within the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will be changed to make their functions and roles easier to understand. The prefix "Busan City" before affiliated institution names will be changed to "Busan Metropolitan Office of Education" to strengthen accountability as the operator of educational institutions.

This organizational restructuring plan passed the 311th Busan Metropolitan Council extraordinary session on the morning of the 8th and will be implemented from March 1 after follow-up measures such as revising enforcement regulations.

Ha Yun-su, Superintendent of Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "We are well aware that the educational community and Busan citizens have very high expectations for the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education," adding, "This reorganization will be a solid stepping stone to solve the long-standing challenges of Busan education and meet the high expectations of education consumers."