○ Gyeonggi Province provides school enrollment guidance to 3,629 registered foreign children aged six
– Elementary school enrollment guides to be produced and distributed in 20 languages

Gyeonggi Province, together with its 31 cities and counties, is implementing elementary school enrollment guidance for the 2026 academic year by producing and distributing guidance materials in 20 languages to households with registered foreign children aged six residing in the province.

Unlike Korean children, foreign children are not subject to compulsory education and are not included in the resident registration system. As a result, they do not receive official enrollment notifications from local governments. As sa result, many children have remained out of school because foreign parents were unaware of enrollment procedures and schedules due to language barriers and difficulties in understanding the education system.

To address this gap in school enrollment, the province obtained data on foreign children eligible for enrollment from the Ministry of Justice and is promoting enrollment guidance in cooperation with local offices of education and city and county governments.

Last year, for the first time among metropolitan-level local governments, 21 cities and counties participated in the initiative, providing enrollment guidance to 2,037 registered foreign children. This year, all 31 cities and counties will participate, expanding the initiative to provide guidance for the 2026 elementary school enrollment of a total of 3,629 children.

To ensure accessibility for foreign households, the guidance materials have been translated into 20 languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Russian, and Uzbek. The province plans to produce official enrollment notices and enrollment guide booklets and send them to each household by mail. In addition, for families requiring interpretation support, foreign-language consultations will be provided in coordination with the Gyeonggi Migrant Integration Support Center and the Danuri Call Center.

Kim Seong-hwan, Head of the Gyeonggi Province’s Immigration Society Support Division, stated, “This initiative is meaningful in that it institutionally addresses an area where responsible personnel and guidance materials have been unclear. We recognize that foreign children are also members of our community who must be nurtured, and we expect this initiative to protect their right to learning and development. In the long term, we hope it will also contribute to social integration.”