The government said on the 10th that it will identify 50 cases in non-capital regions where multiple small schools in areas with declining populations are grouped to successfully run innovative education programs, and provide 10 billion won per region over five years. The aim is to encourage consolidation and closures of small schools in light of the decreasing school-age population.
Small school is a standard introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2015. For elementary schools, those with 240 or fewer students in major cities and 120 or fewer in rural (eup) areas are classified as small schools. For small schools, the Ministry of Education has recommended consolidation with nearby schools and has provided financial support.
However, because consolidations of small schools have not progressed quickly compared with the decline in the school-age population, the Ministry of Education said it will provide much larger financial support.
The Ministry of Education announced the "basic plan for leading regions in education innovation" on the 10th. It plans to finalize the basic plan after collecting feedback from the education field by the end of this month and then announce the project.
As of this year, the total number of elementary, middle, and high school students is below 5 million. Fewer than 300,000 first graders entered elementary school. Nationwide, small schools totaled 3,720 last year, up about 40% over 10 years. They account for 31.3% of all schools.
Even now, when small schools consolidate, the Ministry of Education provides integrated incentive grants to the relevant offices of education: 4–6 billion won for elementary schools and 9–11 billion won for secondary schools. If a main school is converted into a branch school, 500 million won is provided, and if a branch school is closed, an additional 2–4 billion won is provided.
Despite this support, the Ministry of Education judged that not only consolidations of small schools but also education innovation have not been achieved well. It said that one-off financial support had an effect. It also assessed that, because innovation in small schools has been pushed mainly by offices of education, there has been a lack of organic cooperation with local governments and communities.
In response, it decided to identify leading models for innovation in small schools and expand financial support. Starting this year, the Ministry of Education will select around 50 regions outside the capital area. To be selected, district offices of education and basic local governments must jointly prepare innovation models by school level for elementary, middle, and high schools and apply for necessary special cases. For example, an innovation model could involve grouping several small schools in a region to jointly operate curricula, student self-governance activities, and experiential learning.
The Ministry of Education will provide 2 billion won in financial support over five years to regions designated as leading models for innovation in small schools. Regions rated as excellent will receive an additional 1 billion won. The existing school integration incentive amounts will also be increased by 20%–30%.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education also said it will change its internal criteria to allow consolidation of small schools without the consent of a majority of parents. Since 2015, consolidating a small school has required the consent of more than half of parents. The move reflects criticism that such rules have hindered smooth consolidation.