Gwangjin District Doubles Education Budget and Strengthens Career Support to Become an Education-Focused City

Gwangjin District in Seoul (District Mayor Kim Kyungho) is accelerating its efforts to establish itself as a city specialized in education. This year, the district doubled its education expense subsidies to 8 billion KRW compared to three years ago, and is expanding customized career and college entrance programs to strengthen its educational competitiveness.

Kim Kyungho, Mayor of Gwangjin District (right), is communicating with parents of Gunam Elementary School. Provided by Gwangjin District.

Since the beginning of the 8th popularly elected administration, Gwangjin District has made the development of a culture and education-oriented city its core strategy. To enhance educational competitiveness and improve the quality of public education, the district has renovated outdated school facilities. In July of last year, the district established the Department of Culture and Education, created the Career and College Entrance Support Team for systematic support of students’ academic advancement, and formed the Education Cooperation Team to reinforce educational infrastructure.

The district provides education expense subsidies to 69 schools in the area and operates a variety of educational programs to create a pleasant and safe learning environment, including school facility improvements, basic academic skills enhancement, after-school activities, and the "50 Books per Student" reading initiative. As a result of these efforts, Gwangjin District was the only district among general high schools nationwide to produce a perfect scorer in the 2025 College Scholastic Ability Test.

The district has also strengthened career and college entrance support by operating the Career and Vocational Experience Support Center "Haebom," where more than 30,000 students participated in 23 experiential programs. In addition, the district actively provides college entrance education for students and parents, including online one-on-one mentoring with university students, career and college exploration camps, and customized college entrance consulting.

Furthermore, Gwangjin District has signed business agreements with four universities?Konkuk University, Sejong University, Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, and Sejong Cyber University?to proactively respond to changes in the educational environment and develop regionally customized cooperative programs.

Kim Kyungho, Mayor of Gwangjin District, stated, "Since education is a long-term undertaking that shapes the future, we will implement long-term and predictable education support policies," and added, "We will work together with students, parents, and schools to create a better educational environment."