Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City and Busan Metropolitan Office of Education Earn ‘A’ Grade in 2024 Education Development Special Zone Performance Evaluation

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it earned the highest grade, ‘A,’ in the Evaluation of the 2024 Education Development Special Zone Pilot Area Operation Performance Management conducted by the Ministry of Education.

The Education Development Special Zone is a collaborative initiative among local governments, offices of education, universities, industries, and public institutions that comprehensively supports regional educational innovation, the nurturing of local talent, and settlement within the broader framework of regional development.
Busan was selected as a leading pilot region in February 2024 after applying for the national pilot program.

This year’s evaluation, marking the second year of the pilot initiative, assessed 56 pilot regions nationwide (seven metropolitan and forty-nine basic local governments) to examine their overall operations and performance, and to support the smooth continuation of the program.

The evaluation covered five key areas with a total of 13 sub-indicators:

• 1.establishment of governance for collaboration between local governments and offices of education,

• 2.management of special grant expenditures,

• 3.commitment to regional education innovation,

• 4.self-managed performance monitoring of the pilot zones, and

• 5.selection of exemplary cases.

Busan received high marks for its balanced allocation of financial resources across projects and for promoting active participation from diverse partners, including local universities, enterprises, and public institutions.

As a result of this evaluation, Busan has become eligible to apply for up to KRW 3 billion in additional project funding. The City and the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will finalize and submit their project plan to the Ministry of Education by October 30.

Earlier, in March, Busan also received the Minister of Education Award in the Contest for Outstanding Cases of Education Development Special Zone Pilot Areas, hosted by the Ministry of Education, reaffirming its position as one of the most successful pilot regions.

The final designation of Education Development Special Zones will be determined by the Ministry’s Education Development Special Zone Committee in 2026, and Busan expects that its successive achievements will positively influence its official designation.

Once officially designated, the City will be able to continue implementing its diverse educational innovation projects currently underway.

Meanwhile, Busan’s Education Development Special Zone receives more than KRW 30 billion annually from the Special Local Education Finance Grant to promote a range of innovative projects aimed at strengthening public education in the region.
Under this initiative, when residents design education policies tailored to local needs, the central government provides financial support and regulatory exemptions. The City is implementing educational innovation projects under five major strategies:

• ●Busan-type Integrated Childcare and Learning (Neulbom)

• ●Busan Public Education Change Initiative

• ●Digital Education Innovation

• ●Global Talent Development

• ●University Innovation.

Mayor Park Heong-joon remarked, “By once again achieving top-tier results following March’s success, we have further solidified Busan’s position as a leading city for educational innovation. This accomplishment demonstrates the tangible outcomes of our efforts to strengthen public education and foster local talent,” adding, “Busan will continue to operate the Special Zone in close collaboration with the Metropolitan Office of Education so that it may become the driving force of educational innovation for the future.”