Transition and Opening in 2026
New Dormitory for 400 Students
Park Chae-ah, Chair of the Education Committee of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, held a general promotion committee meeting on the 14th at the Yeongcheon City Hall main conference room regarding the transition of Yeongcheon High School, which was selected as the nation's first autonomous public high school recruiting children of military personnel.
Nearly 20 officials attended the meeting, including representatives from the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, the Provincial Office of Education (Departments of Secondary Education, Administration, Facilities, and Future School Promotion Team), Yeongcheon City Hall (Population Education Department), Yeongcheon Education Support Office, and Gyeongju Education Support Office (Facility Hub Center). They comprehensively reviewed all aspects of the school's opening, including dormitory construction and facility projects, student selection, male and female quotas, curriculum, and school and dormitory operations.
After concluding the inter-agency inspection meeting to convert Yeongcheon High School into an autonomous public high school for children of military personnel, the attendees gathered in one place for a commemorative photo.
Yeongcheon High School was finally selected in October 2024 for the 'Autonomous Public High School 2.0 Recruitment Project for Children of Military Personnel,' jointly promoted by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Education, and is scheduled to transition and open in 2026.
Chair Park Chae-ah personally presided over the meeting, carefully examining the progress by each promoting entity and the major project plans for 2025. She listened to potential disagreements among the parties and any complaints during the promotion process to assess the preparation status.
The key review points of the meeting included mutual examination of the dormitory construction project's capacity and budget scale, as well as the feasibility of the detailed establishment plan following the central financial investment review.
The new dormitory at Yeongcheon High School is planned to accommodate approximately 400 students, with an estimated budget of about 40 billion KRW. After passing the central financial investment review in the first half of this year, the project is preparing for construction by securing sequential construction schedules by year.
Bang Ki-gyeong, Director of the Population Education Department at Yeongcheon City, stated, “The autonomous public high school promotion project is currently commissioning a preliminary planning service and is awaiting the central financial investment review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in April.” He added, “If the review is approved as expected, the school opening in 2026 and phased dormitory construction are expected to proceed without any issues.”
Meanwhile, the Provincial Office of Education’s Secondary Education Department responded to inquiries about the ‘nationwide open recruitment for school principals’ by stating that the open principal recruitment system is under the authority of the agreement operation committee, and the Provincial Office of Education has no decision-making power. However, they will actively express the opinions of Yeongcheon citizens regarding external open recruitment. The Administration Department of the Provincial Office of Education answered that measures for the ‘shortage of all-boys schools’ are currently under review, including adjusting (increasing) the class quotas and adding classes at existing all-boys schools, and it is expected that an appropriate number of students can be accommodated.
Chair Park Chae-ah said, “The transition project of Yeongcheon High School to an autonomous public high school is meaningful above all because it reflects the value of the local era by creating a new structure through collaboration between basic local governments and metropolitan education authorities.” She added, “I hope Yeongcheon High School remains a successful case and that harmonious collaboration will create synergy effects in the ‘School Facility Complex Project’ and ‘Education Development Special Zone’ projects planned or underway by the Provincial Office of Education.”
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