Daegu youth facility earns top national rating for 9th consecutive year

The after-school academy at the Daegu Youth Culture Center, operated under the Daegu Happiness Foundation, has been named a top-rated institution for the ninth consecutive year in the 2026 After-School Academy Comprehensive Evaluation, organized by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Youth Activity Promotion Agency.

The Daegu Happiness Foundation announced Tuesday that the Daegu Youth Culture Center has received the top rating in every evaluation cycle since 2011, demonstrating the consistently high operational standards of youth facilities under the foundation.

This year's evaluation assessed 85 institutions across major metropolitan cities nationwide, reviewing performance over the past three years (2023–2025). The Daegu Youth Culture Center earned high marks for maintaining a stable enrollment rate of 98 to 100 percent and for establishing a well-structured self-directed learning system.

Key achievements highlighted in the evaluation include an AI-assisted e-book project in which youth participated directly in planning and production, a youth theater program, a poetry anthology, an EcoQuest project, and a convergence-based STEAM master project.

As one of the top 15 institutions in the country, the Daegu Youth Culture Center will take part in a government awards ceremony in late November. Its operational methods will also be compiled into a best-practices guide and distributed nationwide as a model for after-school academies.

Choi Mi-song, director of the Daegu Youth Culture Center, said the facility would continue to offer high-quality specialized programs to help young people grow into creative and convergent thinkers.