Elementary School Free Meal Program 'Sealing the Issue'

The budget for free meal programs for 5th and 6th grade elementary school students in urban areas of Gyeonggi Province passed the Gyeonggi Province Council Education Committee as proposed on the 8th.

This marks the fourth time a free meal program budget has passed as proposed since Superintendent Kim Sang-gon took office last year.

On that day, council members agreed to pass the budget for free meals for 5th and 6th grade elementary students in urban areas as proposed in order to realize universal welfare and ensure smooth implementation of the Provincial Office of Education's five-year free meal plan.

The Provincial Office of Education plans to implement free meals for 5th and 6th grade elementary students in urban areas (216,840 students) from this month through February of next year if the free meal support budget passes the full assembly meeting on the 17th.

The remaining budget required for implementing free meals for 5th and 6th graders will be secured through budget sharing by municipalities and counties (matching investments).

Currently, 21 municipalities and counties including Suwon, Goyang, Bucheon, Yongin, Anyang, Ansan, Uijeongbu, Siheung, Gwangmyeong, Gunpo, Osan, Hanam, and Uiwang, which are not currently implementing free meal programs, have reflected or plan to reflect free meal program budgets in their supplementary budget bills in response to the Provincial Office of Education's implementation of free meals for 5th and 6th graders.

In compiling this budget, the province redirected approximately 5.89 billion won that the Council had increased without the superintendent's consent in December of last year to ▲the cost of second semester free meals for 5th to 6th graders in urban areas (approximately 1.92 billion won), ▲tuition support for low-income families (approximately 1.23 billion won), ▲lunch support for low-income families (approximately 990 million won), and ▲preschool tuition support for low-income families (approximately 1.33 billion won).