Gangwon Councilor Baek Soryeon: "Taebaek, Samcheok Future Education Budget Execution Rates in the 30% Range; Management Must Improve"

Taebaek and Samcheok Offices of Education Support criticized over budget carryovers and returns at audit
Calls for evaluation of educational outcomes from AI classes

Baek Soryeon, a member of the Gangwon Provincial Council. Provided by the Gangwon Provincial Council.

The budget execution rate for the Future Education Classroom Environment Project at the Taebaek and Samcheok Offices of Education Support in Gangwon remained in the 30% range, drawing criticism during an administrative audit by the provincial council. Council members called for budgets to be allocated in line with actual construction schedules, including school reconstruction projects, and for officials to assess whether facility improvements are leading to better educational outcomes for students.

At an administrative audit of the two offices on November 9, Baek Soryeon, a member of the Education Committee of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Council representing Chuncheon, criticized the low budget execution rate and the large amounts set to be carried over or returned under the Future Education project, calling for improvements to the budget management system.

According to a work report on the Future Education Classroom Environment Project submitted to Baek, the Taebaek Office of Education Support had spent 12.87 billion won out of its total budget of 33.95 billion won, based on this year's second supplementary budget. The execution rate was approximately 37.9%. Of the unspent 21.08 billion won, 12.95 billion won is set to be carried over for ongoing projects, while 8.13 billion won is scheduled to be returned.

In particular, 7.88 billion won is scheduled to be returned from the Green Smart School project at Korea Aviation High School, accounting for approximately 97% of the total amount the Taebaek Office of Education Support plans to return.

Baek said, "Even after 3.19 billion won was already cut from the second supplementary budget, more than 8.1 billion won is set to be returned. This requires a close examination of whether there were problems with the initial project cost estimates and budget allocation process." She also called for a clear explanation of why large balances remained during the design changes and construction process.

Baek noted that a substantial portion of the project costs for the reconstruction of Jangseong Elementary School and Hwangji Middle School had been allocated in this year's budget, even though construction is scheduled to run from November this year through August 2028. She called for budgets to be allocated in accordance with the annual construction schedule, and for learning spaces and safety measures to be provided for students during construction.

The Samcheok Office of Education Support had spent 7.19 billion won out of its total budget of 19.27 billion won, an execution rate of approximately 37.3%. Noting that the contract for the reconstruction of Geundeok Elementary School is scheduled to be awarded in February next year, Baek questioned whether the construction schedule was properly aligned with the timing of the budget allocation.

"If the construction contract is scheduled to be awarded the following year, officials should first have assessed how much of this year's budget could actually be spent," she said, calling for an analysis of the causes of project delays and the establishment of a reasonable spending plan.

The performance management approach for the Future Education projects also came under scrutiny. Baek noted that, while figures such as the number of schools participating in the Gangwon AI-ro pilot school program and AI education projects were provided, it was difficult to adequately assess the actual budgets invested or the educational outcomes for students.

"Project performance should be evaluated based not on how much funding has been secured, but on what changes it has brought about for students," Baek said. "A performance management system should be established to comprehensively evaluate qualitative changes in classes using AI and the educational benefits for students."

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