Gwangju City to Provide KRW 19 Billion for Education Next Year... Own Program Budget Up 50.6%

Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, to Introduce "Edu Taxi" for Middle School Students
Support for Cultural and Arts Experiences and Future School Development

Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, will provide 19 billion won for education next year. The city will increase its budget for its own education programs by 50.6% from the previous year and introduce “Edu Taxi” for the first time to help middle school students who travel long distances to school.

Gwangju City in Gyeonggi Province is holding a committee meeting to review education expense subsidies at Ieum Hall in City Hall on the 20th. Photo courtesy of Gwangju City, Gyeonggi Province.

On October 20, Gwangju City held a meeting of its Educational Expenses Subsidy Review Committee at Ieum Hall in City Hall and deliberated on and approved 2027 education subsidies totaling KRW 19,010,092,000. The funding will go to 61 local elementary, middle, high, and special schools, as well as 10 private kindergartens.

By program, the city allocated KRW 12,599,239,000 to projects carried out in cooperation with Gyeonggi Province, KRW 2,543,640,000 to its own projects, and KRW 3,858,213,000 to projects carried out in cooperation with the education office.

The projects with Gyeonggi Province will support free school meals, free high school education, and free uniforms for middle and high school students. The projects with the education office will fund improvements to school environments and the operation of school buses.

The city will expand its own programs to fulfill Mayor Park GwanYeol’s pledge for his ninth elected term to “build an education city that grows together with its citizens.” It will provide KRW 1 billion for cultural and arts creative-experience programs to promote Gwangju-style RAS (Reading, Arts and Culture, and Sports) character education.

The budget for a program supporting the creation of future schools, including artificial intelligence (AI) and software practice labs and digital creative spaces, will increase to KRW 600 million. The budget for career education courses, which help students explore career paths and strengthen future-oriented capabilities, will also increase to KRW 300 million.

The city will also launch its Middle School Edu Taxi Support Program to improve school commutes. The program will help students at small schools located far from home travel safely to and from school by taxi.

Mayor Park GwanYeol said, “Education is an important investment in nurturing talent that will lead the future of the region. We will identify and support a range of education programs suited to local conditions so that students can develop their dreams and talents and prepare for the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.