Free lunch program to gain momentum

All elementary, middle school students in Seoul to get free meals from 2014

By Na Jeong-ju

Seoul’s education office said Thursday that it will provide free lunches to all elementary and middle school students in the capital beginning 2014.

The plan will cost tens of billions of won in taxpayers’ money each year, but will be implemented should Seoul City pay 30 percent of the budget, with the education office and district offices shouldering the remainder, it said.

The remarks came one day after the referendum on the free lunch program was nullified as voter turnout fell short of the legally required quorum of one-third of all eligible voters. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is expected to announce his resignation in a few days to take responsibility for the nullification.

Currently, elementary school students in Seoul, except for fifth-and sixth-grade students, are having free lunches under a municipal ordinance approved in January by the city’s council, controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party.

The conservative mayor opposed the liberal-led free lunch program and put it to a public vote only to fail. The free meal program was a key campaign pledge of Kwak No-hyun, elected as Seoul’s education chief in June last year.

With the nullification of the referendum, fifth-and sixth-grade students will be able to get free lunches beginning September, if the city government cooperates, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE).

“Seoul City must pay an additional 42 billion won this year to cover the free meals for the fifth-and sixth-grade students,” an SMOE spokesman said. “If our plan goes smoothly, free lunches will be given to all elementary and middle school students beginning 2014.”

That means the education office, Seoul City and district offices should share some 400 billion won annually from 2014 to support the program. The office has claimed the city government spent trillions of won on development and engineering projects under Oh while paying less attention to the welfare of low-income families.

“Under the municipal ordinance, Seoul City will cover only 30 percent of the required budget. If it cuts spending on such projects, it won’t be difficult to finance the free lunch program,” the spokesman said.

However, there is still a hurdle ahead for the education office to successfully implement its plan.

Early this year, the city government filed a suit with the Supreme Court to invalidate the city council’s passage of the ordinance on the meal program, claiming that it included many legally disputed provisions. Oh has alleged that the program will damage the city’s fiscal soundness and increase the burden on taxpayers.

The date of ruling has not yet fixed. Most observers predict that the annulment of the referendum could affect the ruling.

In recent months, other municipal governments have adopted similar programs to provide free meals to elementary school students. They are expected to follow in the footsteps of Seoul to expand the program although some critics called it a populist policy aimed at raising public support ahead of next year’s crucial elections.