The target for phased free education for young children will be expanded from ages 4–5 to 3-year-old classes. Also, first-year students entering local national universities next year will have their tuition fully covered. The number of recipients of the regional talent scholarship for students at local private universities will also be expanded from 4,000 to 10,000.
Next year's Ministry of Education budget proposal is set at 117 trillion 5,962 billion won. That is an increase of 11 trillion 2,355 billion won from this year's main budget of 106 trillion 3607 billion won. The growth rate comes to 10.6%. Including the special accounts for higher and lifelong education support and for infants and young children, plus the size of the newly established future response fund this year, the total increase exceeds 14 trillion won.
By education area, the infants, young children, and elementary and secondary education institutional sector is 89 trillion 7,354 billion won, up 7 trillion 6,189 billion won from this year's main budget of 82 trillion 1,165 billion won.
The higher education sector is 18 trillion 9,661 billion won, up 2 trillion 9,269 billion won from this year's main budget (16 trillion 392 billion won). Lifelong vocational education is set at 1 trillion 1,688 billion won, an increase of 236.9 billion won.
Of the 89 trillion 7,354 billion won invested in early childhood education and care, including integration of kindergarten and childcare, 78 trillion 8,718 billion won will be covered by grant-in-aid (earmarked tax).
As a key program, 642.9 billion won will be invested in the phased free education and care project for young children to reduce early-life education costs. The budget will increase by 172.6 billion won from the previous year, expanding eligibility from the current ages 4–5 to 3-year-old classes. To improve care services for infants and toddlers, the per-capita subsidy rate for care fees for ages 0–2 will also rise by 3%.
Grant-in-aid (earmarked tax) allocated to infants, young children, and elementary and secondary education is set at 78 trillion 8,718 billion won, up 7 trillion 2,031 billion won from the previous year. Starting with next year's budget proposal, the formula for grant-in-aid (earmarked tax) will change. Previously, it was linked to 20.79% of the national tax, but this year the size of the education grant will be determined by reflecting the average annual current growth rate and school-age population changes based on the previous year's grant.
A notable item in this year's education budget is a sharp increase in funding for regional flagship national universities. To boost the education and research competitiveness of flagship national universities, which will serve as the central axis of balanced regional development, the budget for flagship national university innovation support was increased by 145.7 billion won from last year. The package support for growth engines and artificial intelligence (AI) fields for three flagship national universities will also be raised from 70 billion won to 80 billion won.
A total of 213 billion won was set aside to fully cover tuition for 60,000 first-year students entering local national universities next year. The number of recipients of the regional talent scholarship for local private universities will also be expanded 2.5 times, from 4,000 to 10,000.
Financial support to strengthen the education and research competitiveness of local national universities will also be enhanced. A new 691 billion won "Local National University Future Talent Growth Fund" will be established for 21 local national universities.
The budget for the "first career project for college students," unveiled during the youth budget unboxing, also reflects 465 billion won. The program is an internship that helps 60,000 college students build their first career by practicing at corporations for about four to six months. Interning students will receive a monthly salary of 2.3 million won. The government and corporations will split the pay evenly.
A large budget will also go into talent development programs to back mega projects. First, 140 billion won will be invested to launch the "college student problem-solving project," in which undergraduates directly tackle practical challenges raised by corporations, regions, and public institutions through project-based learning (PBL). To improve local education conditions, 600 billion won will also be invested in supporting infrastructure building at private universities.
A project to strengthen adults' ability to use artificial intelligence will also be pursued. The AI re-leap university program, which provides about two years of intensive AI convergence education at 40 universities and junior colleges, was set at 207 billion won.
Minister Choi Kyo-jin of the Ministry of Education said, "We put strong determination into the budget proposal that the state will take responsibility for education and nurturing future talent in response to the era's challenges of low birthrates, regional extinction, and the great transition of artificial intelligence (AI)."