34 schools, 54 projects selected for space innovation and smart learning environments
Tailored support covers student learning spaces and staff rest areas alike
Seoul's Dongdaemun-gu is moving to improve educational environments so students can learn in safer, more comfortable surroundings.
The district said it has allocated 2.98 billion won ($1.92 million) in education subsidies across 54 projects at 34 schools under its "Space Innovation and Environment Improvement Support Project Reflecting School Needs" initiative.
The program spans four areas — space innovation, educational environment improvement, smart learning environments, and staff rest area development — organized into six project categories tailored to each school's aging facilities and improvement needs.
Applications were accepted from April 1 to April 22, drawing requests from 37 schools for 89 projects totaling 4.9 billion won. Field investigations conducted in May assessed each application on necessity, safety, urgency, availability of external funding, and recent support history before final selections were made.
Support by category breaks down as follows: creative space development, 400 million won for three schools; self-directed study room construction, 100 million won for one school; educational environment improvement, 1.45 billion won for 21 schools; artificial turf environment improvement, 477 million won for three schools; and smart learning environment development, 312.55 million won for eight schools.
Particularly notable this year is a newly introduced staff rest area support program, launched to promote respect for teachers and improve working conditions. Nine schools received a combined 239.99 million won under the initiative.
The district plans to continue expanding education subsidies, actively incorporating feedback from schools to provide students with safe, creativity-friendly learning environments and staff with improved working conditions.
"Because every school has different facility and educational environment needs, we made sure to reflect the voices from the field and focus support on the most essential projects," district mayor Choi Dong-min said. "We will continue to actively support improvements so students can nurture their dreams in a safe environment suited to future-oriented education."
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