Council moves to expand public pool discount for girls; speaker and lawmaker tour Cheongwun Elementary facilities
The Seoul Metropolitan Council is moving to renovate aging school swimming pools and expand sports welfare for students. The council plans to remodel 14 deteriorating school pools across the city while also pursuing regulatory changes to reduce the cost of public pool access for young female swimmers.
Council Speaker Im Man-gyun visited Cheongwun Elementary School in Jongno-gu on Wednesday alongside council member Yun Seon-hui of the Democratic Party of Korea to inspect the pool's current condition and usage.
Im received a briefing from school officials on the planned remodeling before touring amenities including changing rooms and shower facilities to assess the extent of deterioration and the state of safety management.
The Cheongwun Elementary pool is a six-lane facility on the first below-ground floor. More than 20 years after it was completed, calls for renovation due to aging infrastructure had consistently mounted, and the school suspended operations in July to begin remodeling.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education currently oversees 48 school pools in the city, of which 14 have been identified as aging and are slated for remodeling.
The Seoul Metropolitan Council views facility upgrades as essential now that survival swimming education has been made compulsory, elevating school pools from ordinary sports facilities to core educational infrastructure responsible for student safety. The council is also considering the potential for school pools to serve as community sports hubs when opened to local residents.
"With survival swimming now mandatory, school pools have become important educational and sports facilities that support not only students' healthy development but also their safety," Im said. "We will progressively upgrade aging facilities so that students and local residents alike can conveniently use a pool close to home."
Alongside the facility improvements, the council is pursuing amendments to local ordinances to ease the financial burden on young female swimmers at public pools. The changes would extend an existing 10 percent fee discount at public pools — currently available to female youth aged 13 and older — to those aged 9 and older, providing support from an earlier age.
Four ordinances are targeted for amendment: the ordinance on the establishment and operation of Seoul Metropolitan Government sports facilities; the ordinance on the management and operation of Seoul's Eoulrim Plaza; the ordinance on the use and operation of sports facilities at institutions directly under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; and the ordinance on the opening and use of public school facilities under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.
Yun, who joined the inspection that day, said the Youth Basic Act defines youth as starting from age 9 and that related ordinances should be brought in line with that standard. "Given that girls are reaching physical maturity earlier, expanding the discount eligibility will help children enjoy swimming more freely and grow up healthy," she said.
Im said the council would continue to reflect feedback from the education office and schools, reform regulations that no longer fit current realities, and actively pursue facility renovations, safety enhancements and expanded sports welfare. He particularly stressed that public sports facilities, including schools, serve as community sports hubs used by both students and local residents, and that the council would pay closer attention to facility conditions and the environment in which people use them.
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
