Busan Bukbu Education Support Office Eliminates 'Educational Imbalance' Between Large and Small Schools

Busan Northern Office of Education will improve educational conditions by resolving the issue of oversized and overcrowded elementary schools in the district.

On the 20th, the Busan Northern Office of Education announced plans to operate a "Small School Expansion-Type School District" starting from the 2025 academic year to address educational imbalances between large and small schools in the area.

The "Small School Expansion-Type School District" is a policy that adjusts school districts to allow students from large schools to transfer or enroll in small schools without changing their address, thereby revitalizing small schools.

Students from large schools can move to small schools, but students from small schools cannot move to large schools.

This is similar to the "Small School Free School District" currently operated for rural schools in other parts of Busan, but differs in that it includes small schools in urban areas as well as rural areas, and grants school choice rights to both new and transfer students.

Busan Office of Education.

The Northern Office of Education defines schools with 120 or fewer students as "small schools" and those with 800 or more students as "large schools," and will proceed with the policy accordingly. To attract students to small schools, they plan to actively promote the strengths of small schools and prepare various support measures such as providing school transportation.

To ensure thorough policy implementation, a "Small School Appropriate Scale Promotion Committee" will also be formed.

The committee will consist of education office officials, local elementary school principals, parents, city council members, district council members, and neighborhood chiefs, and will plan policy promotion measures. Meetings will be held quarterly starting in November and convened as needed when urgent issues arise.

Kim Beom-gyu, Superintendent of the Northern Office of Education, said, "The 'Small School Expansion-Type School District' will guarantee consumer-centered school choice rights and serve as a foundation for deriving new future school types in response to population decline."