Jemulpo-gu District (Mayor Kim Chan-jin) in Incheon is joining hands with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education to build an educational cooperation system that reflects local characteristics. The district and the education office signed the “Jemulpo-gu Educational Innovation District Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” at Galmaegi Hall of the Songnim Office on Sept. 14, agreeing to create an education ecosystem in which schools and the local community jointly support students’ growth.
 [The Korean Today] Signing ceremony for the Jemulpo-gu-Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education MOU on creating an educational innovation district © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
The agreement follows the reorganization of Incheon’s administrative system, which took effect in July. Newly launched through the reorganization, Jemulpo-gu faces local conditions centered on the old downtown area that differ from those of existing districts, making it urgent to establish an education support framework suited to local circumstances. An educational innovation district is a project model in which a local government and an education office sign an agreement to jointly support local education, and the MOU marks the newly established district’s first institutional step in the field of education.
The agreement sets out four pillars on which the two institutions will closely cooperate: administrative and financial support for educational innovation district projects; support for curricula linked to the community; strengthening the capacity of the educational community; and building a governance structure involving the private sector, government and academia. The plan goes beyond simple budget support to energize an educational community in which schools, residents and local institutions all take part, and to connect the region’s educational resources with schools so that students learn the value of their own community and develop future competencies through diverse experiences.
The district’s signature local programs are a village exploration program and expanded arts and culture education. It plans to run exploration programs linking the curriculum with the region’s historical, cultural and industrial resources, including the Open Port area and industrial sites, and to increase support for arts and culture education to create an environment in which students can develop creativity and cultural sensitivity. The district expects the approach, which turns local assets into learning spaces outside the classroom, to benefit both students and the community.
Following the signing ceremony, the two institutions held a meeting on pending local education issues. At the meeting, Jemulpo-gu asked the education office to expand the budget for school facility repairs in order to improve the poor educational environment of the old downtown area. Given that the old downtown has many aging schools, the district put the issue at the top of its list, noting that facility improvement is the educational condition parents feel most immediately.
The district also pointed to the recent stagnation in the inflow of young parents and the continued outflow to nearby new towns, and requested that the education office apply administrative and financial exemptions so that local schools can be transformed into schools students want to attend. The aim is to address the old downtown’s structural challenge, in which population outflow and educational conditions are intertwined, through education policy. Ways for schools, the education office and the local government to maintain ongoing communication and cooperation were also put on the table.
“We will work closely with the education office so that Jemulpo-gu, newly launched through the administrative reorganization, can establish itself as an education city that builds on its local characteristics,” Mayor Kim Chan-jin said. “At the same time, we will gather a wide range of opinions so that the region’s pending education issues can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
With the agreement, Jemulpo-gu has secured the institutional basis for its educational innovation district project. If the terms of the agreement translate into actual programs, students in the district will have wider access to education programs that draw on local resources, and progress in discussions on school facility improvements and administrative-fiscal exemptions is expected to have an impact on improving living conditions in the old downtown area.
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
Become a Local Ambassador Apply as Branch Director The Korean Today — Nam-Incheon
 |
THE KOREAN TODAY × WIA CODE
이 기사의 WIA Code
WIA Code 스캐너로 비추면 인터넷 없이 발행 사실과 위·변조 여부를 확인할 수 있습니다.
휴대폰 기본 카메라로 찍으면 스캐너 안내 페이지가 열립니다 — 기사 바로 열기
움직이는 코드(스트림) 한 장에 기사 전문(사진 포함)이 담겨 있습니다 — WIA Code 스캐너로 약 29초 비추면 폰에 저장되어 인터넷 없이도 읽을 수 있습니다. Stream.mp4 도 여기서 받습니다.
WIA Code · 코리안투데이
Leave a Reply