Seoul Elementary Students to Receive Free School Commute Alerts Starting September

Seoul's education office announced that a student commute notification service will be fully free for all elementary school students in the city starting in September. The service alerts guardians via text or app when students pass through school gates.

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Starting in September, the 'school commute notification service,' which notifies guardians via text or app when elementary school students pass through the school's front or back gate, will be provided free of charge to all elementary school students in Seoul.

This program will be available to approximately 320,000 students across all grades in 607 national, public, and private elementary schools. The system works by having a relay device installed at the school's main or back gate detect a student's mobile device, then transmitting the arrival or departure information to their parents.

Previously, many schools offered this service, but parents typically bore the monthly cost, ranging from 2,200 to 3,300 Korean won. As of December last year, 70.8% of Seoul's elementary schools, or 429 out of 606, operated such a service, with parents footing the bill.

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The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 26th that it will fully implement the school commute notification service free of charge for all approximately 320,000 students in all grades at 607 national, public, and private elementary schools in Seoul starting in September.

The education office stated that the decision to provide the service free of charge aims to bridge the gap in access that previously depended on individual school offerings and family financial situations. The Ministry of Education has allocated 904.875 million Korean won from its special grant for disaster and safety management to fund the initiative.

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The education office explained that it decided to provide full free support to reduce service disparities that occurred depending on whether schools operated the service and family circumstances.

Schools will independently contract with service providers, while the education office will cover the service fees and provide backup devices. Details regarding the transition process for current paid users and the distribution of devices will be communicated by each school. The education office is currently informing parents through various channels and will provide further updates on enrollment, device distribution, and procedures for existing users as schools finalize their operational plans.

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904.875 million Korean won from the Ministry of Education's special grant for disaster and safety management will be invested in the project.