Busan Office of Education Starts Anew with 13 Local Governments as 'Hope Education District'

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Duyul] The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education is changing the name of the ‘Da-Haengbok Education District’ project, which pursues the co-growth of local governments, regional education, and villages, to the ‘Hope Education District’ and will operate it under the new name.

Since 2018, the Office of Education has been operating the ‘Da-Haengbok Education District’ by signing business agreements with education support offices and autonomous districts to realize public education trusted by all and promote regional co-growth.

The ‘Da-Haengbok Education District’ project began in 2018 with Dong-gu, Yeongdo-gu, Buk-gu, Saha-gu, and Sasang-gu, followed by Busanjin-gu and Yeonje-gu in 2019, Haeundae-gu and Geumjeong-gu in 2021, and Seo-gu and Dongnae-gu in 2022, making a total of 11 local governments in the Busan area that signed business agreements and participated in the project.

To elevate cooperation with local governments to the next level, the Busan Office of Education proposed a name change to local governments in October last year. After gathering opinions from local governments and revising the ‘Ordinance on Supporting the Activation of Busan Village Education Communities’ on the 8th of this month, the name change to ‘Hope Education District’ was finalized.

The 11 local governments currently operating the project will continue the project under the existing agreements after the name change. This year, Jung-gu and Suyeong-gu will additionally participate in the ‘Hope Education District’ project.

Busan Office of Education.

The Office of Education will sign a ‘2023 Hope Education District Operation Business Agreement’ with Jung-gu and Suyeong-gu at 2 p.m. on the 20th in the first conference room of the Office of Education. The signing ceremony will be attended by Superintendent Ha Yun-su, Jung-gu Mayor Choi Jin-bong, Suyeong-gu Mayor Kang Seong-tae, and other officials.

According to the agreement, the Office of Education, Jung-gu, and Suyeong-gu will operate the Hope Education District for two years until December 2024 and jointly carry out various projects for the co-growth of regional education and villages.

The Jung-gu Hope Education District plans to promote 11 detailed projects in three areas, including ▲operating creative curricula linked with the region ▲youth challenge projects ▲operation of public-private-academic governance education councils ▲Jung-gu children’s English speaking contest ▲mentoring classes with university students.

The Suyeong-gu Hope Education District plans to operate 23 detailed projects in three areas, including ▲operation of the Suyeong-gu student council ▲support for school characteristic projects ▲school and village co-walking projects ▲marine sports SUP experience.

These Hope Education Districts may be extended based on comprehensive evaluation results in the future.

Ha Yun-su, Superintendent of Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, said, “The Hope Education District is meaningful in creating an educational environment that continues everyone’s hope based on the achievements of the previous Da-Haengbok Education District,” and added, “I hope that the Hope Education District will become a stepping stone to strengthen character education linked with the local community, achieve balanced educational development, and eliminate educational gaps between regions.”