The 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test will take place on November 19, with students from Gwangju heading to their exam sites that morning. The exam serves as a culmination of the year's education and prompts local governments to reflect on their responsibilities in education.
This year, the number of first graders entering elementary school nationwide is 298,000, an 8% decrease from last year, and the total number of students in elementary, middle, and high schools has fallen below 5 million for the first time. As more schools close, Gwangju stands out.
Due to urban development and an influx of residents, the student population in Gwangju has steadily increased, leading to ongoing demands for new schools. In August, the proposed Gwangju High School No. 2 (tentative name) received approval from the Ministry of Education's central investment review, with plans to open in 2030. While other regions are closing schools, Gwangju is building them, which is its greatest asset.
However, assets do not automatically translate into a prosperous future. The question remains whether children raised in Gwangju will learn, work, and stay in the city. Without addressing this, the city may grow but life will not improve, potentially becoming a bedroom community for Seoul and Seongnam. This is why the Gwangju city government has set the goal of becoming a 'self-sufficient city where people work and stay,' with education being the final piece of that puzzle.
On October 20, Gwangju City approved a budget of 19 billion won for education expenses for 2027. This funding will support 61 public and special schools and 10 private kindergartens in the area.
In addition to 12.6 billion won for free meals, free high school education, and free school uniforms through collaboration with Gyeonggi Province, and 3.9 billion won for improving school environments and operating school buses through collaboration with the education office, the city has increased its own education project budget by 50.6% from the previous year to 2.5 billion won.
This increase in self-initiated projects signifies a commitment to using education expenses as a budget for designing Gwangju's education rather than merely as a mandatory contribution.
The newly introduced middle school Edu-Taxi program exemplifies this direction. It supports students from small, remote schools to safely commute using taxis.
Gwangju is a large city, and students from outer areas like Namjong and Toechon often find commuting burdensome. Ensuring that all students start from the same point, regardless of where they live, is the primary responsibility of local government in education. Allocating 1 billion won for Gwangju's character education program, which integrates reading, arts, culture, and sports, aligns with this goal.
Education does not end within school walls. One of the most frequently heard requests over the past 100 days has been for spaces where youth can gather.
Facilities such as hospitals for children who fall ill at night, safe commuting routes free from heavy trucks, after-school care for dual-income families, and future education centers where coding and robotics can be learned without private tutoring are all part of Gwangju's commitment to 'educational transformation,' which combines education, healthcare, care, and safety into a single initiative. A city that is good for raising children ultimately becomes the most competitive city.
The distance in educational administration is also narrowing. As Gwangju and Hanam begin the process of separating their shared education support office, Gwangju is opening the door to an educational administration that reflects its unique educational conditions. This means that issues such as new school construction, overcrowded classrooms, and safe commuting can be addressed collaboratively by the city and the education office.
Education is an investment in nurturing the talents that will lead the region's future. While investments take time to yield returns, few investments are as certain to pay off as education.
When children educated in Gwangju work in the city's semiconductor and AI industries and establish families there, the self-sufficient city will be complete. On November 19, we send our best wishes to Gwangju's students heading to their exam sites. It is the city's responsibility to prepare for the return of these students.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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