[Parliamentary Audit] "30 Trillion Vanished, Yet They Say the Budget Increased?"... Education Offices on the Brink as Grants Are Slashed

Kang Kyungsook Slams “Grant Optical Illusion” at Parliamentary Audit
Provincial Education Superintendents Unanimously Say, “All New Projects Are on Hold”

Concerns that a fiscal crisis is becoming a reality for local and provincial offices of education after the government revamped the formula for local education finance grants, which had been linked to domestic tax revenue, came under scrutiny at a parliamentary audit.

At a National Assembly Education Committee audit on Oct. 20, Assemblyman Kang Kyungsook of the Rebuilding Korea Party strongly criticized the government's plan to reform education grants. "Compared with the current system, which ties grants to 20.79% of domestic tax revenue, the total amount would be reduced by about 30 trillion won," Kang said. "The government's claim that the budget has increased is an optical illusion and a misrepresentation."

Kang Kyungsook, Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker

Kang noted that more than 360 civic groups have joined forces and launched a petition drive to collect 1 million signatures, stressing, "This is an extremely important issue that affects the entire education sector and must be handled carefully."

In particular, she urged the Ministry of Education to introduce an adjustment formula for the government's formula, which takes into account the decline in the school-age population. "It is extremely damaging to areas experiencing population decline, and an adjustment formula is essential to help local talent and education thrive," she said.

Officials, including the Ministry of Education's planning and coordination chief, effectively acknowledged that the 2027 budget proposal "does not follow the current system of linking grants to domestic tax revenue." Superintendents and education office officials from various regions who attended the audit also voiced concerns in unison over the massive fiscal losses and operational difficulties caused by the new formula.

Kim Dae-jung, superintendent of education for Jeonnam and Gwangju, said, "We will lose between 2.4 trillion and 2.7 trillion won each year for five years." He added, "A 35% decline in the number of students does not mean that fixed costs, such as staff salaries and maintenance costs for aging school facilities, will also decrease. We are strongly calling for the formula to be revised."

The situation at the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education was also serious. Daejeon Superintendent Oh Seok-jin said, "Under the government's guidelines, the figures make it look as though we will receive about 90 billion won more than last year. But after excluding the actual increase in civil servants' wages (about 100 billion won), the loss from the tobacco consumption tax being phased out (about 37.9 billion won), and support for free high school education (about 7.8 billion won), we are effectively facing a shortfall of more than 50 billion won." He added, "We are in no position to launch any of the new projects we have been pursuing."

The Sejong Office of Education also stressed the need for stable funding. Sejong Superintendent Kang Mi-ae said, "To nurture future talent, we need to invest heavily in future-oriented education, including AI, but the current budget is not being provided on a stable basis."

She also told committee members why the share of domestic tax revenue allocated to education should remain fixed at 20.79% for future generations, saying, "Sejong is a city that will not be fully completed until 2030, and 44 additional public institutions are set to relocate here, but we have not even secured the funds to prepare for that."

With tensions mounting between the government's push to cut education budgets on the grounds of declining student numbers and educators' appeals over practical fiscal pressures, including the need to maintain education quality and cover fixed costs, controversy over the education grant reform is expected to intensify after this audit.

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