DAEGU — The Daegu Metropolitan Council said it opposes what it called a unilateral and abrupt overhaul of the central government's local education grant system.
In a statement on the 2nd, the council said the revision plan announced by the government on the 21st of last month could undermine the stability and predictability of local education finances.
The council stressed that education funding should not be judged solely on the basis of a shrinking school-age population. Even as student numbers fall, fixed spending needs such as salaries for teachers and staff, school operating costs and facility maintenance continue, it said, while new demands are also growing in areas including artificial intelligence and digital education, childcare and safety, and education welfare.
The council urged the government and the National Assembly to fully reconsider a plan that it said would cause a sharp contraction and greater uncertainty in local education finances, to guarantee by law that the future response fund is used first for kindergarten, elementary and secondary education, and to gather sufficient input from local councils, metropolitan and provincial education offices and schools when the legislation is reviewed.
The government has announced a plan to scrap the current formula, which ties the local education grant to 20.79% of domestic tax revenue, and replace it with one reflecting nominal growth rates and changes in the school-age population. It is pushing for related legal revisions.
