[New Year's Address] Lee Jungseon, Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education

Gwangju Education Reading Culture: Reading Together

Jeongseon Lee, Superintendent of Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education.

We extend our deepest condolences and sympathy once again to the bereaved families and all our people, whose hearts remain heavy with sorrow and regret following last year's Jeju Air passenger plane disaster.

The year 2025, Eulsanyeon, is the Year of the Blue Snake. Since ancient times, the snake has been regarded as a symbol of wisdom and adaptability.

This year, the Office of Education has continued to implement various educational policies in four areas: 'Diverse Competencies,' 'Warm Character,' 'Towards the World with a Global Foundation,' and 'Towards the Future with a Digital Foundation.'

First, we will cultivate diverse competencies.

The 'Back to Books' project, which shone even brighter this year with the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Han Kang, a writer from our region, will be expanded to 'Back to Books, Together with Books.' We will foster a reading culture in Gwangju education where everyone reads together?with parents, with teachers, with friends, all together.

This year, we will especially strengthen basic science education, including mathematics and science. We will strive to create schools without 'math dropouts' and make the exploration of mathematics and science engaging and enjoyable. We will nurture our children's dreams so that the next Nobel Prize in Science may come from Gwangju.

Second, we will nurture warm character.

To promote practice-oriented life education, we have newly established the Department of Life Education to systematically support character education, mental health, and psychological counseling. We will work even harder to create warm schools where the rights of all members of the educational community?including student rights and teacher rights?are respected.

Third, we are moving towards the world.

I recall the moment when a student, who participated in last year’s Global Leader World Tour program in Germany, presented a photo of German autumn leaves and shared, "Students with different lives, thoughts, and colors became harmoniously united like the autumn leaves in Germany." For our students, this was not just a trip, but a true learning experience. In addition, this year, we plan to strengthen connections and cooperation with the local community by forming a local education community (village schools, Onmaeul Ieum Schools).

Finally, we are moving towards the future.

We will continue to establish future educational environments such as the AI Factory Future Classroom and Gwangju AI-ON, and further activate AI and software education centered on student participation. Through digital citizenship education, we will nurture our students to become future talents who can wisely utilize human-centered technology.

Dear citizens of Gwangju, whom I love and respect,

In 2025, we anticipate great winds of change in the educational field. With the full implementation of the high school credit system under the 2022 revised curriculum, the 2028 college admissions reform, and the digital classroom revolution, the educational paradigm will shift. Thorough preparation is needed for these changes.

Our Office of Education will do its utmost to ensure that there are no gaps in educational activities for the growth and learning of our children. We will communicate in various ways with the school field and wisely and intelligently solve the challenges we face.

May peace dwell in all your homes in 2025. Wishing you a happy new year. Thank you.