"43 All Students" Eventually Closing Bundang...First Case of the 1st New Town

Jinsul Middle School / Naver Map

A middle school in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, is undergoing closing procedures due to a lack of students.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and others, the closure of Zhengl Middle School in Geumgok-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, has been virtually confirmed on the 9th.

From the 27th of last month to the 2nd of this month, Kyeongol Middle School surveyed all 41 parents on whether to promote an appropriate size of school.

The promotion of appropriate size schools is to promote schools below the appropriate size, such as small schools, to abolish the school, replace new schools, and integrated schools based on the "Gyeonggi Office of Education Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting Appropriate Size Schools." If the majority of parents agree, the school will be closed.

Given that there is a Neulpureun Middle School with 630 students in nearby Jeongja-dong and low demand for new schools, the survey was conducted on the premise of abolishing the school, not the replacement of the new school or the integrated operation school.

Of the 38 parents who participated in the survey, 25 or 65.79 percent, agreed to promote an appropriate size of school. There were 13 or 34.21 percent against it.

With the majority of parents approving it, Kyeongol Middle School plans to complete the closure of the school in February 2027, when the first grade graduates.

At the time of its opening, the total number of students was 159, but since then, the number of students has gradually decreased, from 82 in 2022 and 59 last year, and now it is 43.

If the school closes, it will be the first case among the first new cities in Bundang, Ilsan in Goyang, Jung-dong in Bucheon, Pyeongchon in Anyang, and Sanbon in Gunpo.

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team