Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is implementing a customized support project for 3rd and 4th grade elementary school students.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education will provide special support for current 3rd and 4th graders in elementary school who have mainly experienced remote learning due to the spread of COVID-19 immediately after entering elementary school.
Starting this semester, the Gyeonggi Office of Education announced on the 29th that it will carry out the 'THE Growth Project,' consisting of ▲student-tailored learning support (Teaching) ▲physical activity support (Health) ▲social and emotional support (Emotion).
Student-tailored learning support will be conducted by homeroom teachers selecting support candidates through academic assessments, providing learning support, progress tests, and customized feedback.
Physical activity support includes body movement-centered physical activities, a fitness improvement challenge based on student health fitness evaluations, the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Challenge, and stretching exercises.
The social and emotional support focuses on understanding one's own and others' emotions and learning social relationship skills.
To this end, the Gyeonggi Office of Education will utilize a special grant of 4.9 billion KRW to intensively operate counseling programs and guide participation in family counseling programs linked with specialized institutions when difficulties arise within parent-child relationships.
This special support was prepared in response to requests from the field, recognizing the significant deficits in learning, physical activity, and emotional well-being among 3rd and 4th graders that require countermeasures.
Meanwhile, a basic academic skills (3R's: reading, writing, basic math) assessment conducted by the Gyeonggi Office of Education last year on 3rd to 6th graders showed that the average percentage of students not reaching the standard score was 1.77%, with 3rd graders at 3.54%, about twice the overall average.
Also, from 2019 to last year, the proportion of 4th graders in the lower 4th and 5th grades out of five total grades in the student health fitness evaluation increased significantly from 11.2% in 2019 to 17.5% in 2021. Last year, it was recorded at 13.3%.
The number of counseling cases at school counseling offices (WeClass) also increased significantly over the past three years, from 201,541 cases in 2020 to 591,324 in 2021, and 628,482 in 2022.
Kim Yoon-gi, Director of Curriculum Policy at the Gyeonggi Office of Education, said, "The 3rd grade in elementary school is a very important period for ensuring basic academic skills," adding, "We will do our best to address deficits in learning, physical health, social skills, and emotional well-being through this special support project."
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