[수완뉴스=김동주 기자] The Seoul City Council amended and approved the supplemental budget at an extraordinary meeting held on the 10th. The extraordinary session passed a budget of 790 million won for educational participation allowance for out-of-school youth.
The “Homeschooling Life White Paper,” which worked to secure the budget for the out-of-school youth education participation allowance, collected a total of 2,461 signatures through the “Signature Campaign to Protect the Out-of-School Youth Education Participation Allowance,” and delivered the signatures to the Seoul Metropolitan Assembly Education Committee on the 24th of last month, convincing Councilmember Park Sang-sun (Vice Chairman of the Education Committee) and three practitioners of the education participation allowance on the necessity and importance of the out-of-school youth education participation allowance.
We also organized a meeting between Rep. Park and out-of-school youth who are eligible for the allowance. The out-of-school youth who attended the meeting said that the allowance was a “lifeline,” “motivation,” “a ray of light,” and “comfort” in their lives.
In particular, the Homeschooling Life White Paper commented on the results of the signature drive, saying, “It was the common opinion of citizens that the right to education should be guaranteed regardless of whether one is in or out of school,” and that “the out-of-school youth voiced that the project should be continued, saying that the education participation allowance was an opportunity to ensure equal access to education and support their dreams.”
In response to the signature campaign, the Homeschooling Life White Paper said, “Christian Ethics Action Movement, World is School Dropouts (Naver Cafe), Anmusuun Company, Frog outside the Well, JL Youth Research Institute, Youth Rights Action Asunaro, Youth Center, Korean Youth Policy Alliance, and 10 other youth-related rights groups and organizations participated in the petition.
“I would like to bow my head and thank the many citizens who participated in the signature campaign to protect the out-of-school youth education participation allowance,” said Song Hye-gyo, CEO of the Homeschooling Life White Paper.
“We promise to make sure that the education participation allowance is paid stably in the future,” said Park Kang-sun, a member of the Seoul City Council. ”We will discuss the relevant contents and create practical results so that it can be developed into various support policies.”
김동주 기자
