Heo Kyung-haeng, Chairman of Gwangju City Council, Celebrates Manseon Elementary School's 'IB World School' Certification Ceremony

On the 17th, Heo Kyung-haeng, Chairman of the Gwangju City Council in Gyeonggi Province, visited Manseon Elementary School, the first public school in Gyeonggi-do to receive International Baccalaureate (IB) certification. He spent time communicating with members of the educational community, including Oh Seong-ae, Superintendent of Gwangju Hanam Office of Education, Choi Byung-jin, Principal of Manseon Elementary School, Kim Tae-seok, Future Education Officer of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, as well as various parents and faculty members.

Osung-ae Oh, Superintendent of Gwangju Hanam Office of Education, Kim Tae-seok, Future Education Officer of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, and other attendees are taking a commemorative photo at Manseon Elementary School, which received International Baccalaureate (IB) certification. Photo by Gwangju City Council

The International Baccalaureate (IB) is an international certification school education program developed and operated by the non-profit educational foundation IBO headquartered in Switzerland. It is known as an educational system that pursues learners' self-directed growth.

Manseon Elementary School began as an IB candidate school on March 12, 2023, entered the candidacy phase on August 29, 2023, and was officially certified as an IB World School on the 21st of last month, after about one year and three months. Established in 1948 with a history spanning over 80 years, Manseon Elementary School has made many efforts to improve classroom instruction, including being an innovation school, a leading school for remote education, and a research school.

Chairman Heo Kyung-haeng said, “The IB World School certification signifies the official start of an internationally standardized, high-quality curriculum,” and added, “I ask all members of the educational community to work together to foster student-led inquiry classes and nurture talents with international competence, so that students’ voices, choices, and sense of ownership can be fully expressed.”