The city of Gwangju has decided to allocate funds for this year's free school meal program through a second supplementary budget.
The city plans to support the education office following a review by the city council's budget committee.
Due to budget constraints, Gwangju was unable to provide 16.982 billion won of the 72.124 billion won allocated for school meal support in the region as of last month.
This shortfall represents funding for 44 days of meals based on a 190-day school year.
As a result, 555 kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools in Gwangju, serving 170,819 students, faced the possibility of not receiving meals for 44 days.
Baek Seung-joo, Vice Mayor of Gwangju, stated during a press conference on the 28th, "We will work closely with the education office to ensure that students can focus on their studies without worry and that there will be no disruption to school meals."
The current budget for free school meals is shared among the metropolitan city, autonomous districts, and the education office.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.