The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education has proposed a national model for rural small-school innovation through its "Gunwi hub school" initiative. [Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education]
The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education has proposed a national model for rural small-school innovation through its "Gunwi hub school" initiative. [Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education]

The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education's "Gunwi hub school" initiative — launched to counter declining school-age populations and the threat of regional depopulation — is drawing wide attention as a successful model that has dramatically strengthened the competitiveness of local public education.

According to the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, the Ministry of Education visited Gunwi Middle School on Wednesday to announce a plan for "improving regional education capacity through small-school innovation" and to observe the hub school program firsthand.

The visit was part of the ministry's effort to develop policy for improving educational conditions in areas experiencing population decline. Officials came to verify the success of the Gunwi hub school model and explore ways to replicate it nationwide.

The office designated elementary, middle and high schools in Gunwi as hub schools, overhauling their learning environments and curricula while expanding support through the International Baccalaureate program, English-immersion education and dormitory operations.

As a result, 86.7 percent of students at small schools in the Gunwi area transferred or enrolled in the hub schools.

"The Gunwi hub school is a case where the region's challenge of a shrinking school-age population was turned into an opportunity for public education innovation," Daegu Superintendent of Education Kang Eun-hee said. "We will continue to work with relevant agencies to support Gunwi students so they can grow into future-ready talent without having to leave their community."


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