Yoon Hye-young, Yeonsu District Councillor: “Student and Youth Policies Must Move Beyond Showmanship”

Yoon Hye-young, Yeonsu District Councillor (Democratic Party of Korea, Songdo 2, Songdo 4, Songdo 5), pointed out during the major business report of the Planning and Welfare Committee at the 277th Yeonsu District Council temporary meeting held on February 2 that it is time to consider “effectiveness over formality and sustainability over results” regarding youth and student policies and job creation initiatives.

Regarding the district's field trip and career linkage programme for first-year middle school students being promoted by the Songdo Administration, Yoon stated, “The intention is very good, but the current plan is excessively ambitious and unrealistic.” He added, “The method of moving between the Second Government Building, Youth Training Centre, and key departments of the district to cover all programmes in a short time can only leave students with superficial experiences.”

He continued, “If it is a subject-linked programme, it should be designed so that students can choose areas of interest and have in-depth experiences rather than just listing field trips,” and suggested, “It is necessary to restructure it into a realistic programme through day-by-day and optional operations or prior consultations with schools.” He also pointed out the importance of sharing preliminary materials, stating, “It is not desirable to keep repeating the answer of ‘still under consideration’ in the reporting session.”

Yoon expressed concerns regarding the operation of the ‘safeguard’ initiative, which addresses safety issues in Songdo through resident participation. He remarked, “While the intention of 24-hour complaint reception via open chat rooms is good, it essentially relies on 1-2 specific staff members for constant response,” and emphasized, “The speed of administration should not become dependent on the dedication of individual employees.”

In particular, he stated, “In a situation where complaints arise at night and in the early morning, a structure that continuously demands real-time responses is not sustainable in the long term,” and stressed, “The results of a month’s operation should be compiled and shared with the committee, and it should be supplemented with a more efficient system.”

Regarding job policies, he raised issues with both language and structure. Yoon commented on the name of the core initiative, ‘Tailored Employment Support Programme by Class,’ saying, “The term ‘class’ could inadvertently stigmatise the target individuals,” and suggested, “It needs to be revised to a more universal and respectful expression, such as support by target group or life cycle.”

Additionally, concerning the operation of youth spaces, he stated, “Continuing the project without analysing the reasons for low space rental performance indicates a weakening of the administrative self-check function,” and demanded, “It is necessary to redesign the promotion and operation methods to allow a broader range of youth to access beyond the youth network-centric operation.”

On the forklift, elevator, and fire safety manager training courses being promoted as part of the inter-city job creation project, Yoon warned, “Training overlapping with existing vocational training systems could lead to market oversaturation,” and emphasized, “It is essential to actively discover new job models that reflect the characteristics of the Yeonsu District and future industrial environments.”

Yoon concluded, “Policies should not be reported in numbers but should be understandable to all participating students, youth, and staff,” and stated, “Now is the time to check and adjust the direction.”