1.Outside School Expansion of ‘Children’s Anshim Schools’

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When parents with schoolchildren have to stay at work after school hours, what can they do? A ‘Children’s Anshim School’, whichan after-school care center operating in the school,just the answer. Now, Gyeonggi Province has announced that it will also promote the establishment of Anshim Schools off of school premises as well.

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Both Mrs. Yu Mi-jeongher husband are out the home working during the day. She had always worried about her two children since she couldgive them proper parental supervision after her children left school. That’s until she heard about the Anshim School. Now shea relieved parent.

The degree of satisfaction with the Children’s Anshim Schools among svery high. The rating they gave was more than 4.2 out of a possible 5.

To meet the growing demand for after-school care service, Gyeonggi Province opened 8 classrooms in four additional Anshim Schools in the Hwaseong You & I Center, Namyangju Wabu Library, Gyeongin National University of Educationthe Suwon Women’s College. Gyeonggi Province plans to operate such Anshim Schools off of school premises as well in order to accommodate more schoolchildren in need of quality after-school care.

Children’s Anshim Schools, the first such facilities of their kind in Korea, opened in Gyeonggi Province for the purpose of providing after-school care to children who are left untended after school hours. It would be a positive development such schools opened throughout the nation.

2. Bounties for Successful Cases of Job Placement

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The imbalance between job supplydemand has long been an ongoing problem in Gyeonggi Province. To alleviate this problem, Gyeonggi Province has proposed to pay ‘Bounties for Successful Job Placements’ to private job agencies through the Gyeonggi Employment Centers. This programexpected to benefit both job seekerssmall & medium-sized companies alike.

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StartingMay, Gyeonggi Province will pay up to KRW 100,000 to private job agencies as a bounty for each successful case of job placement that the agency realizesintroducing a job applicant on their own lists to a specified ‘vacancy’. The bounty will be paid for each case of regular employment.

Guidelines for vacancies will be set out to facilitate the matching of job applicants with job positions. The bounty will be paid only for cases of employment that satisfy the requirements for the vacancies specified in the Guidelines.

Bounties can be claimedemployment agencies registered in Gyeonggi Province. The claim should be filed between MayDecember this year.

While the national economic growth rateincreasing, the employment ratestill relatively static. This ‘growth-without-new-employment’ situation makes it more difficult for both job seekers to find employmentfor companies to fulfill their workforce needs. This ‘Vacancies’ program of Gyeonggi Province may present a helpful solution.

3. From Participation in Hope Labor to Real Employment

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The Hope Labor Program achieved a dual purpose last yearproviding work opportunities to economically disadvantaged peopleby contributing to the local economy. Now this program has expanded its scope to tackle the central problem of the underprivilegedsecuring their employment.

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The expansion of the Hope Labor Program as an employment support servicereceiving favorable responses.

Gyeonggi Provinceproviding employment support to the participants of the Hope Labor program so that they can continue to work as regular employees in small companies after the program’s scheduled completion in June.

The ‘Hope Labor Support Service for Employment in Small Companies’ aims to help the participants of the Hope Labor Program find stable jobs in small companies that have failed to find workers.

Gyeonggi Province has organized a cooperation tem between officials in their regional officesconsultants at local employment centers to provide ‘customized’ jobs to the participants of the Hope Labor Program.
A provincial government official said the outlookgood because Gyeonggi Provinceinvesting positive efforts to raise the employment rate among Hope Labor Program participants.

4. Bringing Superior Performances to Regional Theaters

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Gyeonggi Province will launch the ‘Gyeonggi Performance Stage Laying’ project. The purpose of this projectto eliminate the inconvenience ofto travel to Seoul when provincial residents wish to view a performance. Now, high-caliber performances will come to provincial residents.

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Superior performance events that typically find their venues in Daehakno are now coming to Gyeonggi Province.

In order to promote the use of theaters in the province, Gyeonggi Provincethe Gyeonggi Performing & Film Commission will launch the ‘Gyeonggi Performance Stage Laying’ project.

Provincial residents can now enjoy quality performances at their local theaters. Under this project, a variety of performance events will be presented at 11 theaters throughout Gyeonggi Province.

Those who are deprived of cultural experiences will be invited to each performance, accounting for an allotment of more than 10% of the total seats, so that they may share in cultural benefits.

All such performances to be featured in regional theaters are pieces with proven popularity. They can be enjoyed at a ticket price that50% cheaper on average than comparable prices in Seoul.

Gyeonggi Province expects that this Gyeonggi Performance Stage Laying project will provide provincial residents with more opportunities to experience superior performance events at their local theaters.

5.Gyeonggi Employment Centers Help YouTraining to Employment

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Finding a job these daysextremely difficult even for university graduates. Accordingly, Gyeonggi provincial officials rolled up their sleevesbegan to take action to transform job seekers into ideal employment candidates for companies.
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In order to pragmatically help young job seekers secure employment, Gyeonggi Province studied the recruitment conditions of companies in the provincewill start the customized training of potential workers to fulfill demand.

The Gyeonggi Employment Center organized vocational training courses on May 10th. They are free of charge,each trainee will receive KRW 150,000 per month as a participation allowance.

Regional Gyeonggi employment centers are actively working with companies in Gyeonggi Province to identify job vacancies for young job seekers.

Customization of potential workers to meet the needs of companiesactive employment placements in small & medium-sized companies in Gyeonggi Province are expected to produce positive results in reducing the number of unemployed young.

6.‘A Dream of a Girl’, A Musical Production PresentedGyeonggi Women

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Every year, Women’s Week takes place during the first week of July. Itan ideal time in which to promote public awareness of the importance of the individuality of women. Gyeonggi Province will produce a newly d musical to commemorate this year’s Women’s Week.

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We visited the site of auditions for a new musical that will be presented during Women’s Week in early July. Hopeful musical actresses competing for the role of the ‘Girl’ demonstrated their talent in dancing, singingacting, which they have been honing for the occasion.

Competitionextremely high at a rate of 70 to 1. This musicalabout a blind girl who dreams of becoming a dancerrealizes her dream in the end, defying the unfriendly prejudices of the world.

During Women’s Week last year, Gyeonggi Province held a mini-fashion show that featured reformed clothes as well as a superlative concerta choir consisting of multi-cultural family members.

The events presented on July 8th after the commemoration ceremony of the 15th Women’s Week will hopefully open up a week during which women celebrate themselves,serve as a starting point for the emergence throughout society of a voluntary support spirit for the resolution of the problems facedwomen.

7.Preservation of Old Buddhist TemplesTheir Cultural Assets

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There are more than one hundred historic Buddhist temples in Gyeonggi Province. However, a number of these temples suffer serious aging issues, posing safety concerns. As Buddha’s Birthday approaches, Gyeonggi Province began the refurbishment of Buddhist temples.

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In preparation for Buddha’s Birthday, Buddhist temples strung lotus lanterns,the repainting of the discolored roof, wallspillars of this Myeongbujeon temple house began.

Gyeonggi Province will inspect 99 Buddhist temples in the province in terms of the degree of agingsafety concerns,will start the refurbishment of those temples requiring repair. The work will cost the centralprovincial governments KRW 2.3 billion.

In the case of this temple, three temple houses with Buddha’s statue, Daewungjeon Samseonggak Mitajeon will be refurbished together with the restrooms for visitors.

There are 136 registered cultural assets at historic Buddhist temples in Gyeonggi Province. Since these temples are becoming more important as tourism resources, therealso a need for work to preserve the cultural assets they contain in conjunction with the refurbishment of the temple buildings.