Kim Suk-jun, Busan's superintendent of education, has unveiled a "grand transformation of Busan education" blueprint spanning AI-based future education, teacher rights protection, marine education, and expanded educational welfare. Having taken office as the first-ever four-term superintendent, Kim declared that he would raise the competitiveness of public education to complete "an education system that nurtures the dreams and talents of each and every child."
Kim held his first press conference since taking office at the education office annex Wednesday, announcing five policy directions under the vision "Together Toward the Future, Busan Education That Leads." "The next four years will be a time to complete Busan's future education by looking only at children, on the foundation of harmony and communication, based on past achievements and experience," he said. "We will build an education system in which students can fully develop their aptitudes and capabilities through public education alone."
The core of the policy is future education innovation that responds to the AI era. The Busan education office will distribute AI tutors to all grades to build a customized learning system tailored to each student's level and learning pace. The existing Nambu and Haeundae Maker Education Experience Centers will be reorganized into "AI and Maker Education Experience Centers" to expand convergence education combining AI and maker education. The office also plans to build an AI Teaching and Learning Support Center and an AI descriptive and essay-based assessment support system to enhance the reliability of process-oriented evaluation.
Alongside expanding AI education, humanities and arts education will also be significantly strengthened. The office will establish an instrument-sharing center to invigorate school orchestras and will create cultural and arts education spaces using closed schools. In particular, it plans to establish the nation's first opera academy and Deokdo Yesulmaru, where local artists and students grow together, to build a Busan-style cultural and arts education model.
Customized education that addresses both academic improvement and students' mental health will also be strengthened. The approach involves expanding responsible instruction in literacy and basic academic skills, and running academic improvement programs for sixth-grade elementary students and third-year middle school students during the transition between school levels. Advanced math and science education for high school students will also be expanded. Social-emotional education will be established within the regular curriculum, and the system for early detection of and psychological support for at-risk students will be advanced.
The vocational education system will also be reorganized to match the AI era. The office will establish a career education team and hold high school credit system fairs by region, while building an AI-based employment support system and a future vocational education center to boost the employment competitiveness of vocational high school students.
Kim also presented teacher rights protection and the reduction of school workloads as key tasks. Civil complaint response teams will be established at each education support office to handle malicious complaints on behalf of schools, and the teacher rights protection system, including legal, psychological, and administrative support, will be strengthened. In addition, by expanding dedicated academic affairs administration teams and distributing AI assistants and an integrated work-automation app, the office will create an environment where teachers can focus on teaching and student guidance. A teacher and staff healing center will be established in Ilgwang, Gijang-gun, and a parent support center will be established in the city center next year.
Education policies reflecting Busan's regional characteristics also draw attention. A "Glocal Middle School" focused on bilingual and international education will be established in the western Busan area, along with a new Busan International Education Institute. Befitting Busan's status as a marine capital, a Marine AI Education Center and a Busan Student Marine Training Center will also be created to expand the foundation for cultivating marine talent.
In the field of educational welfare, the focus is on special education and eliminating educational blind spots. The office will gradually reduce the class size of integrated classrooms for students eligible for special education and expand the behavioral intervention support team's personnel to 2.5 times the current level by 2030. In addition, it will operate multicultural autonomous schools that develop the strengths of students with migrant backgrounds, and provide out-of-school youth with education participation activity funds and opportunities to take the national joint academic achievement test.
Along with this, the office decided to make school trips and field-trip costs entirely free for all grades and to newly pursue support for gym uniforms for high school freshmen, further expanding universal educational welfare.
"There can be no separate progressive or conservative in education," Kim said. "I will become a 'superintendent for everyone,' listening not only to the citizens who supported me but also to the voices of those who did not." He added, "The future of our children is the future of Busan," and "I will surely realize a Busan education that gives dreams to children, pride to teachers, and trust to parents."
