Shaping the Future Through Education! ... Establishing a Foundation for Talent Development to Lead Pohang

Promotion of School Specialization Program 'Smart Learning'

Full Effort for Designation as Education Free Zone and School Facility Complex Project

Pohang City is investing a total of 25.3 billion KRW this year in educational projects for elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as in educational welfare budgets, to promote a competitive Pohang-style future education and focus on nurturing talent.

This year, as a new project, the city is implementing the ‘School Specialization Program Support Project’ targeting elementary schools experiencing a decline in student numbers due to the depopulation of old downtown areas, and the ‘Smart Learning Project,’ which provides free English online learning lecture content to all citizens.

The city held a project briefing session for 13 elementary schools in Pohang’s old downtown area, and through project applications, will carry out school specialization projects such as coding education at Cheongnim Elementary and Sangdae Elementary, ice skating education at Jukdo Elementary, musical instrument education at Yongheung Elementary and Hanggu Elementary, drone soccer at Pohang Songdo Elementary, futsal at Daejam Elementary, and badminton education at Pohang Yeongheung Elementary.

Along with this, by implementing the ‘Smart Learning Project,’ the city plans to reduce private education expenses for students and parents, provide opportunities for young people to improve their job skills, and strengthen educational publicness through nurturing global talents and enhancing the capabilities of all citizens.

Additionally, the ‘Pohang Career and Academic Support Center,’ which opened in 2018 as the first of its kind in Gyeongbuk Province, has been relocated and operated since March at the old Buk-gu Office site, the Kkumtree Center. The center is dedicated to building a customized career and academic support system, developing specialized programs linked to local resources, producing online educational content that can respond to rapid changes in the educational environment, and striving for digital talent development in preparation for the 4th Industrial Revolution and practical university entrance exam support.

Since its establishment in 1992, Gyeongbuk Science High School has established itself as a prestigious high school in Pohang. To prevent the outflow of talent by stopping its relocation to other cities or counties, the city has invested a total of 7.52 billion KRW since 2019 to relocate and build Gyeongbuk Science High School in Jigok-dong, with a full relocation and reopening scheduled for April this year.

Pohang City is continuing consultations with related organizations such as the Ministry of Education, Gyeongbuk Province, and the Gyeongbuk Office of Education to designate Pohang as an ‘Education Free Zone,’ a key national agenda of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s 120 major national tasks. The city is making every effort to be designated as a special zone in line with the purpose of realizing regionally tailored public education through balanced regional development led by the local community.

In addition, to address issues such as regional community extinction and school consolidation due to the decline in the school-age population, the city is promoting a school complex project, a new model of school facilities that installs cultural, sports, and welfare facilities necessary for education and local residents’ lives on school idle land, thereby organically linking and coexisting with the local community centered on schools. To this end, a memorandum of understanding was signed in February with the Ministry of Education, Gyeongbuk Province, and the Gyeongbuk Office of Education.

Furthermore, the city is implementing various policies to establish a foundation for nurturing future talents through education, including 2.7 billion KRW for free school uniforms for new middle and high school students, 700 million KRW for building multi-purpose school auditoriums and establishing an advanced education infrastructure, 450 million KRW in municipal support funds for free high school education, 400 million KRW for native English-speaking assistant teachers in elementary and middle schools, and 200 million KRW to support English experiential learning in elementary schools.

Mayor Lee Gang-deok is explaining the Pohang City school complex facility development plan at the 'School Complex Facility Promotion Business Agreement Ceremony' hosted by the Ministry of Education in February.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, “Education determines the future of the city and is a key factor in creating a sustainable Pohang,” adding, “We will do our best to nurture excellent future talents and develop local education through differentiated educational policies and innovative support.”