Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Urges Government to Extend Support for Free High School Education

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education urged the government to come up with measures to extend the special provisions on the burden of free high school education expenses in consideration of the local education financial situation.

Chung Geun-sik, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said in a statement today (29th) that local education finances are facing a crisis of windfall as the high school free education increase grant is scheduled to sunset at the end of this year.

As of this year, the central government's budget to the education office is 1 trillion won nationwide and 176.1 billion won in Seoul, but it did not reflect it in the revenue because it did not organize an increase in free high school education next year on the premise of sunset of the bill.

He then stressed that local education finances are increasing revenue reduction factors due to continuous tax deficits, high school free education sunset, discussion of local education tax for tobacco consumption tax, and abolition of school land charges.

On the other hand, he added that expenditures are increasingly burdened by the introduction of spring schools and AI digital textbooks, integration of reserves, and drastic improvement in basic education, so the government organizes tightening finances as if it were a dry dishcloth.