Bonghwa, Sangju, Yeongju, Cheongdo, and Gumi Selected as 'Education Innovation Leading Regions'; Up to KRW 10 Billion in Support Over 5 Years

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education announced that it will launch education innovation projects tailored to local characteristics after five areas—Bonghwa, Sangju, Yeongju, Cheongdo, and Gumi—were selected in the Ministry of Education's competition for “Education Innovation Leading Regions.”

Education Innovation Leading Regions is a follow-up initiative to the Education Special Zone program. It brings together offices of education, education support offices, local governments, and communities to improve local educational conditions and build sustainable education ecosystems where students can learn and grow in their communities.

Gyeongbuk Office of Education

In this competition, Bonghwa, Sangju, Yeongju, and Cheongdo were selected as Type 1 regions, while Gumi was selected as a Type 2 region. The selected regions will receive financial support totaling up to KRW 10 billion over a period of up to five years.

Selected as an outstanding region in the evaluation, Sangju presented a strategy for innovating small schools under the vision “Bringing Them Together, Connecting Them, Revitalizing Them, and Making Sangju a Place Where Children Stay.” The city plans to boost the competitiveness of small schools and create an educational environment that encourages students to stay in the area through school integration, community partnerships, specialized curricula for small schools, and weekend after-school programs.

Bonghwa will operate “Bonghwa Mega Campus,” a joint curriculum based on flexible collaboration among schools, and strengthen global learning connections by leveraging resources from the K-Vietnam Valley. Yeongju will designate hub schools linking elementary and middle schools and operate joint curricula that draw on World Heritage sites such as Buseoksa Temple and Sosu Seowon. Cheongdo will advance “Cheongdo-style Whole-Village Education,” a partnership between schools and villages, as well as an industry-linked vocational education center established through an agreement.

Gumi plans to build a system for developing future talent by leveraging local universities and the national industrial complex through rural joint learning schools and the “Gumi Future Talent Growth Track,” which connects schools, universities, and businesses.

The Gyeongbuk Office of Education plans to expand the education innovation achievements of the selected regions throughout the province. It will also continue to promote education innovation initiatives tailored to the characteristics of regions that were not selected and support their participation in next year's competition.

Lim Jong-sik, superintendent of the Gyeongbuk Office of Education, said, “We will do our utmost to help the selected regions develop education innovation models that reflect their local characteristics and provide tailored support to regions that were not selected, so that the results of education innovation can spread throughout Gyeongbuk.”

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