Middle school in Seoul faces closure due to lack of students - first in new city

Jeongsol Middle School in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, is in danger of being closed due to a lack of students. If the middle school is closed, it will be affected by the closure of Bundang-gu, Ilsan, Goyang-si, Jungdong, and Anyang-si.
This is the first case in the first phase of new towns, including Sipyeong Village and Gunpo City Sanbon. According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education on the 9th, the middle school conducted a school-wide survey of 41 parents between the 27th of last month and the 2nd of this month.
The survey on school size optimization was conducted. The optimization of school size, called "fostering schools of appropriate size," is based on the "Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting Schools of Appropriate Size."
The plan calls for the abolition of schools that are below the appropriate size, such as schools for which the school is closed, relocated or merged. This requires the participation and consent of the majority of parents.
In this survey, 25 out of 38 parents who participated in the vote (65.79%)
) supported the promotion of school size optimization. Thirteen people (34.21%) were opposed. In Jeongja-dong, nearby the middle school, there is Neulpureun Middle School with about 630 students.
Taking into account the low demand for new schools, the survey was conducted on the assumption that the school would be closed, rather than relocating to a new school or integrating and managing it.
The education authorities will draw up a detailed plan for optimizing the size of Jeonsol Middle School this year.
The school is scheduled to close in February 2027 after deliberations and administrative teasers. The school was built in 1995, around the same time the nearby Jeongseol Village apartment complex was built.
It opened as Kanaya Junior High School in March 1996 and changed its name to Cheonsol Junior High School in 1996. When it first opened, the school had about 150 students, but the number has continued to decrease since then, to 82 in 2022 and 59 last year.
Currently, 43 students are enrolled. A provincial education official said, "Close to Jeongsol Middle School is Jeongsol Village 1-10, which has 6,500 households. However,
"Because of a lack of students, we have decided to develop a school of an appropriate size," he said. "From the 2025 school year, Cheongsol Middle School will no longer accept new students and will instead accept students who wish to continue studying.
Students will be able to transfer to two nearby schools located within 1.5 kilometers of the school. If they wish to graduate from Cheongsol Middle School, they will be able to stay until they do so. "We need to consider how to use the site after the school closes," he said.
did.