Changes in Ulsan Education for the New Year
The Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education (Superintendent Cheon Chang-su) plans to focus on strengthening students' future competencies in response to the transition to future education in 2025.
In March next year, the Ulsan Online School will open in line with the full introduction of the high school credit system. A new Ulsan Online School with 38 rooms will be established on the 4th and 5th floors of the annex building of Hogye Elementary School in Buk-gu, with an investment of 3.529 billion KRW. This school will be equipped with small filming studios, content production rooms, and project rooms to provide students with a high-quality online education environment.
Seventeen subjects will be offered to high school students in the Ulsan area, including Geometry, English-speaking Culture, Basics of Artificial Intelligence, Spanish I, Carbon Neutrality and Energy, and Health, accommodating a total of 728 students with 20 to 30 students per course.
The Ulsan Online School will guarantee students' subject selection rights at individual schools and provide real-time interactive classes for subjects that are difficult to open at individual schools, such as new industries and new technology fields, thereby meeting diverse learning needs of students.
Free education for private kindergartens, which began in September 2023, will be expanded to cover children up to 3 years old next year, benefiting all children aged 3 to 5. The Ulsan Office of Education supports education expenses of 215,000 KRW per month for private kindergartens and 100,000 KRW per month for public kindergartens to ensure all children receive quality education.
The Neulbom School, operated for first graders in elementary school in 2024, will expand its target to include second graders. The Ulsan Office of Education plans to operate Dodam Dodam (a free 2-hour program for 1st and 2nd graders), elective education programs (existing after-school programs), elective care programs (existing elementary care classrooms), and morning and evening Neulbom programs according to demand.
From July 18 to 20 next year, the "2025 Ulsan Future Education Expo: Beyond Empathy, Embracing the Future" will be held at the Ulsan Exhibition & Convention Center.
The Ulsan Office of Education will spend about 770 million KRW to operate academic forums, lesson-sharing halls, and experience centers for students, parents, teachers, and citizens in the Ulsan area. The expo will provide opportunities to foster creativity and imagination from various perspectives and engage in diverse discussions.
In September, the "Children's Reading Experience Center" will open. The center, focusing on forest, play, and reading education, will be built on the site of the former Donghae Branch School (Dangsa-dong, Buk-gu) with a budget of about 16.3 billion KRW. It will be a two-story building with a total floor area of 2,047.51㎡.
It will consist of various reading-related experience and play spaces and operate reading activities with student-customized programs and educational communities that everyone can enjoy. It is expected to become a key experiential institution for revitalizing reading education in Ulsan.
Starting from the 2025 academic year, the Ulsan Office of Education will convert Ulsan Jungang Girls' High School into a coeducational school and rename it "Ulsan Gaon High School." Since its establishment in 1979, Ulsan Jungang Girls' High School has been a representative girls' school in the Jung-gu school district for 45 years. Using the pure Korean word "Gaon," meaning "center," the school will start anew as a central institution in regional education and a school nurturing future leaders of society.
Next year, the educational environment of elementary schools in Buk-gu and Ulju-gun will be greatly improved. Ulsan Hyomun Elementary School will be newly established in the Yuldong Apartment Complex area in Buk-gu, opening with 7 kindergarten classes (including 1 special class) and 30 elementary classes, providing a quality educational environment for students in the newly developed Yuldong district.
Yaksu Elementary School will relocate to the Jungsan Maegok area in Buk-gu and reopen with 3 kindergarten classes and 27 elementary classes. The relocation is expected to improve commuting conditions for students in the Jungsan Maegok area and further strengthen the local educational foundation.
Seosaeng Elementary School in Ulju-gun will move to the Sinam-ri area of Seosaeng-myeon and be newly renovated as a four-story building with 14 classes, featuring various future-oriented learning spaces and convergence spaces.
The Ulsan Office of Education plans to create flexible spaces and eco-friendly schools to provide students with safe and convenient educational environments.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.



