Unissued Smart Devices 'Stacked' in Each School
Joseokho, Gwangju City Council Member, Says "Budget Estimates Are a Mess"
The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education is facing criticism that its major projects, which are being promoted with an investment of over 100 billion won in preparation for the transition to digital education, are being operated hastily.
On the 8th, Jo Seok-ho, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Buk-gu 4), stated during an administrative audit of the Office of Education, “The smart device distribution project, which was pushed forward recklessly without conducting a demand survey targeting students, is a typical case of budget estimation failure.”
Councilor Jo criticized, “There have been continuous reports that 50 to 200 tablet PCs are left unused in each school,” adding, “A huge budget is being wasted due to the unused smart devices that were not distributed.”
He continued, “Despite the electronic blackboard distribution rate being as low as about 10%, 4 billion won out of the 12 billion won budget for this year must be carried over to next year,” criticizing the careless planning and passive implementation of the electronic blackboard distribution project.
Meanwhile, since 2022, the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education has been distributing educational tablet PCs, laptops, and charging storage cabinets to elementary, middle, and high schools through the smart device distribution project. They invested 800 million won in pilot schools in 2022, 64.6 billion won for middle and high schools in 2023, and 25.4 billion won for elementary, middle, high, and special schools in 2024, with 12 billion won budgeted for next year as well.
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