The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 30th that it will directly manage the overall operation of school swimming pools through a dedicated team, marking the first such initiative in the country.

A view of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. /Courtesy of News1

According to the Seoul Office of Education, the swimming pool at Su-dong High School in Dongjak-gu will start operations by the authorized facility operator on the 1st of next month and will officially begin the training program in March.

In the past, schools with swimming pools faced various issues such as illegal subleasing, illegal expansions, changes in structure, unauthorized issuance of membership rights, unauthorized occupation of school facilities, and non-payment of usage fees and utilities, which often led to disciplinary action or lawsuits against responsible individuals.

In response, the Educational Facilities Management Headquarters established a dedicated team for swimming pool operations, named the School Swimming Pool Support Team, on July 1 of last year and formulated a basic plan for the sequential transfer of swimming pool responsibilities. In December of last year, it selected Su-dong High School as the first pilot school for dedicated swimming pool operations and directly conducted the bidding announcement and selection of the successful bidder for the swimming pool usage permit. Moving forward, the Educational Facilities Management Headquarters will also handle all matters related to swimming pool operations directly.

The Educational Facilities Management Headquarters plans to designate a total of five schools as pilot schools this year and will gradually take over the operations of 48 public schools with swimming pools by the end of 2029 according to a staged plan. Additionally, starting in 2027, it is expected to expand the scale of the dedicated organization from a team structure to a department structure to broaden its operations and meet the demands of schools, students, and local residents through overall quality management of swimming pools.