Daegu Dalseo Middle and High Schools to Relocate from Dalseong Habin to Secheon in March 2027... Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for New Building

Daegu Dalseong-gun (Governor Choi Jaehoon) held a groundbreaking ceremony on the 28th at the planned relocation site in Secheon-ri, Dasa-eup, Dalseong-gun, to mark the start of the 'Dalseo Middle and High School Secheon Relocation Project,' a key educational pledge of the 8th popularly elected administration.

The event was attended by over 400 people, including local parents and education officials, reflecting high interest and expectations for the relocation project.

Jaehoon Choi, mayor of Dalseong County, Daegu, is attending and giving a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for relocating Dalseo Middle and High School to Secheon.

In particular, as this groundbreaking ceremony fulfilled a decade-long wish of Dasa residents, a large number of parents with children attending kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools in the Seojae and Secheon areas filled the venue, demonstrating the community’s strong desire for the opening of the new school.

Daegu Dalseo Middle and High School is scheduled to open in March 2027, with a total site area of 23,537 square meters and a total floor area of 12,188 square meters. The school will accommodate 27 classes, including 9 for middle school and 18 for high school, and will also feature multipurpose auditoriums and study cafes as part of its complex facilities. With its pleasant natural surroundings near the Geumho River and Gungsan, combined with state-of-the-art educational facilities, the new school is expected to significantly enhance students’ learning environments and emotional well-being.

Since their establishment in 1968 (middle school) and 1975 (high school), Dalseo Middle and High School have been prestigious local educational institutions nurturing talent in Habin-myeon, Dalseong-gun. However, due to the nationwide decline in the school-age population, only about 40 out of 400 students currently reside in Habin-myeon, creating challenges for the school.

Meanwhile, the Secheon area has experienced a rapid population increase since the construction of Seongseo 5th Industrial Complex in 2013 and the addition of 4,600 apartment units in a new private residential district. However, educational infrastructure, especially middle schools, has remained insufficient, leading to continuous demands from residents for the establishment of new schools.

In response, Dalseong-gun, after consultations with educational authorities, devised a plan to relocate and redistribute existing schools, as establishing new schools was not feasible. This approach is regarded as a practical solution that simultaneously addresses the imbalance in the local school-age population and improves the educational environment.

Daegu Dalseong-gun officially launched the project in May 2023 by signing a memorandum of understanding with the Dalseong-gun Council, Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, and the Dalseong Academy Foundation. After receiving approval for the educational environment assessment and school location change in October of that year, the project completed small-scale environmental and disaster impact assessments in September 2024, received approval for the school facility implementation plan in October, obtained a building permit in November, and finally selected Hongseong Construction Co., Ltd. as the contractor at the end of last year, with construction commencing on February 20.

According to school officials, site preparation and foundation work will be completed in the first half of this year, the main structure will be finished in the first half of 2026, and after relocating school equipment in February 2027, the new school is scheduled to open in Secheon in March 2027.

Choi Jaehoon, Governor of Daegu Dalseong-gun, stated, "Dasa-eup has a population of 90,000, and despite the large-scale residential complexes in Secheon, the lack of educational infrastructure has caused significant inconvenience for residents. As this is the first project to relocate a school within the region in response to declining school-age population and to improve educational conditions in Secheon, we will do our utmost to ensure the school opens as planned in March 2027."

Governor Choi added, "After relocating the school, we will develop public facilities desired by residents in the former site in Habin-myeon to contribute to balanced regional development."

Meanwhile, the Dalseo Middle and High School Secheon Relocation Project is drawing attention as a new approach of relocating existing schools to new towns with high educational demand amid the polarization of the school-age population, and is expected to provide valuable insights for future national education policy directions.