"Please Help My Child Grow Up to Be a Tax-Paying Adult… An Earnest Appeal" from a Mother [News Story]

Harder to Enter Than Seoul National University?… Parents Relocate Their Livelihoods to Find Schools

The desire of parents to provide a better educational environment for their children is universal. However, the so-called "prestigious schools" were not what the parents met by the production team were searching for. Seonyul's family relocated their lives from Seoul to Goseong, Gangwon Province, last year to attend a special school. This was because there were no special schools in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, where Seonyul, who has autism spectrum disorder and an intellectual disability, could attend. They hurriedly moved to Gangwon Province and submitted an application, but had to anxiously wait until the assignment results came out. This is because more applicants than the 6 incoming freshmen were flooded into Sokcho Cheonghae School, where Seonyul applied.

Difficulties like this are not only experienced by Seonyul's family. One family who moved from Gyeonggi Province to Jeju signed a house contract just through a phone call and filled out an application form for special school admission. Special schools were that desperate. The parents met by the production team unanimously said, "Getting into a special school is harder than getting into Seoul National University."

The Hard-to-Cross Threshold of Special Schools

Even for children with severe physical disabilities, for whom attending school and living a daily life is difficult without a special school, the gates of admission remain narrow. Siha, a 7-year-old scheduled to enter elementary school next year, has congenital schizencephaly and cerebral palsy. She cannot sit or walk on her own. However, there are no daycare centers exclusively for children with disabilities or special schools in Siha's hometown of Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. Siha commutes to a daycare center in Bucheon that takes 20 minutes by car every day. Moving is also not easy due to the burden of medical treatment costs and housing prices. Her mother, Baek Hye-jin, even submitted an earnest appeal to the Office of Education out of fear that Siha might not be assigned to a special school. All the mother wants is for her child to safely attend school and receive basic public education. It was a very ordinary yet natural wish to raise her child "into an adult who pays taxes."

Finding a School… Until When Must It Be Solely the Burden of Parents?

While the school-age population is declining, the number of students requiring special education is increasing rapidly. However, special schools and special classes are failing to keep pace with that growth rate. As a result, parents relocate their lives to find schools where their children can attend, and postpone admission if they fail to be assigned to a special school. Experts unanimously voice that fundamental measures are urgently needed to expand special schools and special classes in accordance with special education demand, preventing educational opportunities from varying by region. They emphasize that finding a school suitable for a child should no longer be solely the burden of the child and parents.

This week's SBS

looks back at the reality created by the shortage of special schools through the stories of families who had to relocate their lives to find special schools, and examines what needs to change to protect the basic educational rights of children.

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