Dropouts in Seoul to get monthly subsidy

A student studies by watching an online lecture at “With Friend,” a youth support center affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. / Yonhap

By Jung Hae-myoung

The education authorities in Seoul will provide a subsidy of 200,000 won per month to young people who are not attending school starting from March.

The beneficiaries will include those aged between nine and 18 who have delayed going to primary or middle school, did not enter high school, or dropped out or has been expelled from high school. In Korea, elementary and middle school education is compulsory.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), Sunday, the office and the Ministry of Health and Welfare are likely to finish discussions over the issue and the subsidy may start being handed out by the end of March, a delay from its initial plan of January.

It was one of the support measures for dropouts announced by SMOE Superintendant Cho Hee-yeon in October.

The goal of this policy is to help those out of school resume their educations, with the money going toward buying books, taking online lectures, having meals or using public transportations.

The SMOE originally planned to provide cash through their bank accounts and not oblige them to report how they spend the money. However, public criticized that the beneficiaries could spend the money for other purposes and the benefit could encourage students to drop out.

So the education office has changed many of the original details. Instead of cash, the money will be provided in “clean cards,” certified by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the cards cannot be used at adult entertainment establishments.

Before providing the card, the government will educate the children how to use it, require them to report transaction records, and provide consultations based on the records.

Children registered with “With Friend,” the SMOE-run support system for drop-out youths, can apply for the subsidy, regardless of their parents' income level or the reason for dropping out.

According to the office, 60 percent of the children who are registered with With Friend are likely to receive the subsidy when it becomes available. In Seoul, about 10,000 students quit school every year.