Yongsangu, Seoul Survey Public Education Environment Satisfaction Rises from 20th to 1st Place

Comprehensive Satisfaction with Private Education Ranks 2nd
Efforts to Establish Education as Priority in Minseon 8th Term Bear Fruit
Promotion of 16 Projects in 5 Areas Including Future and Global Education

Yongsan-gu Mayor Park Hee-young and parents of Yongsan Middle School held a meeting last month to promote school education. Provided by Yongsan-gu.

Seoul Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Park Hee-young) has rapidly risen to first place in public education environment satisfaction. According to Yongsan-gu on the 16th, the satisfaction with the public education environment, which was ranked 20th in 2021, recorded first place in the ‘2023 Seoul Survey,’ and the overall education environment satisfaction, combining public and private education, ranked second among the 25 autonomous districts.

The overall average score for Seoul's educational environment in 2023 is 6.29 out of 10, while Yongsan-gu scored higher at 7.17. Satisfaction with the public education environment was 7.67 (Seoul average 6.43), rising by 2.49 points from 5.18 in 2021.

The district views these results as the outcome of various policies implemented over the past two years to establish itself as the top education district, one of the key pledges of the 8th elected administration. The new and expanded support projects in the education sector under the 8th administration cover 16 projects across five areas: future education development, global education, school support, career/vocational/experiential learning, and reading promotion.

In particular, the future education development sector is a priority project for the 8th administration of Yongsan-gu. The district is laying the foundation for designation as an educational special zone to foster prestigious high schools and cultivate global talents. A research project on activating global education and future education development is scheduled to be completed in November this year. The Dream Tree Scholarship Fund recipients have been expanded from elementary, middle, and high school students to include university students. University entrance and admission programs have been significantly expanded, including the launch of the specialized university entrance website Yongsan JinHak Pass, hiring of professional university entrance consulting officials, and support for internet-based CSAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) broadcasting.

Native speaker foreign language classes reflecting the characteristics of the area, which hosts over 50 foreign embassies, have also been expanded. This year, two specialized courses such as coding and English drama were newly introduced. The program, previously only for 3rd to 6th graders in elementary school, has been extended to include 1st and 2nd graders. The children's English camp also opened classes for 1st and 2nd graders. The duration was extended from the previous two weeks during vacation to three weeks, and a support of 100,000 KRW is provided to households with two or more children.

New school cooperation projects are also underway, including school branding projects, the formation of working-level consultative bodies through meetings among practitioners, and parent meetings. In May, Yongsan Railroad High School was selected as a Ministry of Education agreement-type specialized high school, securing financial support of up to 4.5 billion KRW over five years.

Since August last year, support has been provided for Sookmyung Women's University’s “Thousand Won Breakfast” project. The eco-friendly meal expenses, which were supported for elementary and middle schools in 2022, have been expanded to kindergartens since last year. This year, the support for meal expenses has been extended to Seoul Automobile High School, a lifelong education institution recognized for academic credit.

The number of participants in the Career and Vocational Experience Support Center increased from 31,360 in 2022 to 42,198 last year. For the first time this year, the district supports orchestra performances visiting schools, financial and investment education, one-day Yongsan-gu public official job experiences, and cultural and arts experiential activities for vulnerable elementary, middle, and high school students.

District Mayor Park Hee-young said, “We have set the mid- to long-term development direction in education as a ‘city cultivating global talents,’” adding, “We will not be satisfied with being first in public education satisfaction and will devote all efforts to creating an education internationalization special zone so that local children can demonstrate their capabilities at international companies to be established in the Yongsan International Business District.”