Students line up to have a meal for 1,000 won (US$0.77) at Kyung Hee University in eastern Seoul, in this March 13, 2023, file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — With a number of colleges using government funds to provide breakfasts to students for 1,000 won (US$0.77), other students excluded from such benefits are feeling relatively deprived.
Jongno Academy and the Korean Educational Development Institute data showed that 73.3 percent of last year’s high school graduates advanced to Korean junior colleges or universities with four-year programs this year.
The remaining 118,829 haven’t gone on to college.
Considering the number of people excluded from government funding, including those who did not graduate from high school, the number of people excluded from the 1,000-won benefit is expected to be much higher.
“Spending on food has more than doubled due to increasing consumer prices,” said Lee Song-heon, 25, the CEO of an online shopping mall.
“Just because some of us didn’t go to college doesn’t mean we should be excluded from these benefits.”
As part of the 1,000-won breakfast project, students pay 1,000 won, the government pays another 1,000 won, and the university covers the rest of the amount.
Since universities are expected to pay for almost half of the food price, students enrolled in colleges with poor finances are excluded from this benefit.
“The project doesn’t benefit 30 percent of young South Koreans who haven’t gone on to college. It may create a vacuum in the welfare system,” said Shin Yul, a politics professor at Myongji University.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
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