More than two decades ago, Australia increased its digital education budget for residents in remote areas to ensure they had access to learning opportunities.
In sharp contrast, the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Assembly on Thursday united across party lines to condemn the central government's moves to cut local education finance grants on the grounds of a declining school-age population.
The assembly issued a statement Thursday urging stable maintenance of the current local education finance grant system and secure provision of local education funding.
In the statement, the assembly said the local education finance grant is "the core foundation of education finance that guarantees equal educational opportunity for all students and eases the education gap between regions," adding that restructuring the system solely on the basis of a declining school-age population risks undermining the public nature of education and the stability of local education finance.
The assembly said Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province has a distinct educational environment — characterized by its vast area, communities centered on mountainous and rural fishing villages, and a high proportion of small schools — that sets it apart from other cities and provinces. A uniform overhaul of the grant system that ignores such regional characteristics, it said, could weaken the sustainability of education in Gangwon and widen the education gap between regions.
The assembly then said that as the role of education continues to expand — encompassing foundational academic skills, special education, education welfare, childcare, and AI-based future education — stable education finance is an essential foundation for supporting the education of tomorrow. It urged the government to maintain the current local education finance grant system under the recognition that education is not a cost but an investment in the nation's future.
The assembly also urged the government to maintain the current local education finance grant system linked to domestic tax revenues, establish a responsible education finance policy to secure stable local education funding, and pursue any reform only on the basis of sufficient consultation with education stakeholders — including schools and local assemblies — and broad social consensus.
Jo Seong-un, chair of the assembly's education committee, said the local education finance grant "is not a simple financial support scheme but the core foundation of education for guaranteeing students' right to education and closing the education gap between regions." He added that "the government must halt any unilateral reform that undermines the stability and predictability of education finance, and must draw up a responsible education finance policy for future generations based on sufficient communication with those on the ground."
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