The supplementary budget proposal of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was narrowly passed by the City Council.
On the 10th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that the first supplementary budget for the 2023 Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Special Account for Education Expenses was finalized after review and approval by the Seoul City Council.
The total budget size is 12.8798 trillion won, a decrease of 11.7 billion won compared to the original budget of 12.8915 trillion won. The supplementary budget amount alone was confirmed at 358.6 billion won. The budget was organized by drawing major resources from internal reserves.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education experienced difficulties in passing the budget as it clashed with the Seoul City Council, where the People Power Party holds the majority, during the supplementary budget review following the original budget.
The original budget for this year was 12.3227 trillion won, passed last December, which was 4.4% (568.8 billion won) less than the original proposal.
The reduced budget included not only basic school operation expenses but also many projects that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education had prioritized, such as debit and electronic whiteboards.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education submitted supplementary budget proposals of 472.4 billion won in February and 252.7 billion won in March, but these also failed to pass the council.
The approved expenditure budget (supplementary) includes 82.4 billion won for current expenses (basic operation costs for public schools), 152.8 billion won for educational projects, and 123.4 billion won for facility projects. The current expenses were increased to reflect inflation such as public utility fees.
The educational project budget includes funds for building a digital environment such as electronic whiteboards, 15.7 billion won for free school meals, 25 billion won for snack support in elementary after-school care classrooms, and 10.5 billion won for operating the Seoul Future Education District.
The facility project budget includes 33.4 billion won for asbestos removal, 89.3 billion won for improving aging school facilities, and 700 million won for improving meal environments.
Some projects that were cut during the original budget were partially revived, including in the educational project budget: 29.3 billion won for distributing smart devices debit cards to first-year middle school students, 36.2 billion won for installing electronic whiteboards for second-year middle school students and others, 4.6 billion won for building the Seoul-type Metaverse platform, and 500 million won for supporting rural study programs. However, compared to the budget submitted last year, debit was reduced by 53.7 billion won and electronic whiteboards by 122.9 billion won.
Out of 88 projects cut during the original budget, only about 30 projects were partially revived, and budgets for elementary, middle, and high school entrance preparation funds, fruit meals, and school wireless environment construction were not included.
Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "We will use this budget valuably to support the stable operation of schools by embodying the spirit of cooperation and to build infrastructure for high-quality care and a digital-based future education system."
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