S. Korea to provide free education to all high school students starting in 2021

“고3부터 단계적 무상교육”...2021년 전면 시행The South Korea government is working to offer free education to all high school students - a benefit currently only available to elementary and middle school students. Won Jung-hwan has the details.South Korea is getting rid of school fees for all high school students starting in 2021.Until now, high schoolers have had to pay a fee every semester that covered costs including expenses for tuition, school management and teaching materials.That meant Korea was the only one among 35 OECD countries that charged money for high school.The decision was made Tuesday by officials from the presidential office, the education ministry and the ruling party at the National Assembly. This will not only will help ordinary households save nearly 14-hundred U.S. dollars a year,… it will also strengthen the South Korean people's right to education."Education is a basic right stipulated in the Constitution. And to realize that right, along with elementary and middle schools, high school also needs to be made free."The plan will be implemented gradually, starting with this year's high school seniors in the fall.Then it'll expand to second-year students the following semester.But the plan always had an issue -- how to finance it. The ruling party has said that for high school to be free, 1-point-7-5 billion U.S. dollars in funding will be needed every year. And some experts point out the plan would depend on the cooperation of local superindendents, which could pose a problem.But the Moon administration has made free education a top priority as part of building what it calls an "inclusive nation,"… so the government, at least, is confident that this time it'll work."The previous administration had some difficulty securing funds,… but the current government has taken measures to ensure financial support because they feel a responsibility to show they're fulfilling their national agenda."But for high school to be free, the National Assembly needs to pass the relevant bills in the first half of the year, and progress there is never guaranteed.Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.