Lifelong learning for a fulfilling life
Hwacheon-gun is a county of the Republic of Korea, noted for its natural scenery. More than 80 per cent of the land area is mountainous, with mountains more than 1,000m in altitude distributed all around.
Vision and motivation
Hwacheon-gun has a department of education, which is exclusively responsible for educational attainment in the county. The municipality supports local children with scholarships, as well as improving the educational environment.
The city of Hwacheon was designated a ‘Lifelong Learning City’ by the government in 2006. Since then, the municipality has tried to boost education within its city by introducing several new policies, such as the Saturday English Academy.
Challenges and goals
With the learning city concept, the city aims to provide an educational environment for those who want to achieve self-realization as well as for pre-schoolers, children of school age and adults so that they can enjoy a fulfilling life through various lifelong learning programmes. The city needs to mobilize and utilize further resources to enhance sustainability and economic development.
Plan and implementation
The municipality’s lifelong learning plan is structured as follows:
First, the development of pre-school programmes that strengthen the character of pupils.
Second, a reduction in the burden of private education fees on parents by increasing public expenditure on education.
Third, the delivery of sustainable programmes for adult learners such as foreign language courses which prepare them to be global citizens.
In addition, the municipality plans to utilize the Republic of Korea’s unique political situation to stress the importance of peace-building through UNESCO.
Furthermore, the city appreciates the importance of a good relationship among learning cities in order to develop a better learning environment through sharing good practice. It also hopes that the city can make a great advance in lifelong learning through connecting with the UNESCO GNLC.
Hwacheon city seeks to implement an education system which every citizen can access to pursue their dreams and ambitions and nurture future creative global talents.
Mr Moon-soon Choi
UIL is not responsible for the content of this city profile.
