Nearly seven in 10 students in Korea benefit from a free school meal program led by municipal education offices, the Education Ministry said Monday, adding that the scheme may be leading to the “worsening quality” of student lunches.

According to a report by the ministry, 67.6 percent of elementary, middle and high schools in the nation provide free meals to all students regardless of their families’ income, as of 2016. The proportion was 46.8 percent in 2011.

The free lunches cost the schools a combined 2.64 trillion won, a 4.7 percent increase from the previous year.

By region, schools in cities and provinces under liberal education superintendents were most likely to provide students with the free meals.

Nearly 88 percent of the students in Sejong enjoyed meals for free, followed by Southern Jeolla Province (87.2 percent), Northern Jeolla Province (83.6 percent) and Gangwon Province (82 percent).

South Gyeongsang Province, where its Mayor Hong Joon-pyo vehemently objected to the free lunch policy and stopped funding the program last year, saw only 24.3 percent of its students offered free meals. Daegu (46.2 percent) and Ulsan (42.6 percent) also had a relatively lower portion of students benefitting from the free meal scheme.
In the report, the Education Ministry called on municipal education offices to rethink the current free meals, citing concerns that the policy worsens the quality of food due to the lack of budget.

The Education Ministry’s position on the universal free meal program comes amid persistent tension between right-wing regional governments and left-wing education superintendents over the progressive-initiated welfare policy.

The right-wing bloc has portrayed the free meal plan as “populist” and claimed that free lunches should be limited to only students from low-income families. The liberal opposition has argued that it is a part of mandatory education under the Constitution and a selective welfare system would divide students into the rich and poor.

Thirteen liberal education superintendents out of 17 in the country, who took office in the 2014 election, support the free school meal plan.

While the central government pressures local education offices to assign their own budget for the state-initiated child care program called the “Nuri curriculum,” left-wing education superintendents have prioritized the implementation of the free lunch program over the child care scheme.

The free child care program, which was initiated by former President Lee Myung-bak’s administration, was a major part of President Park Geun-hye’s welfare pledges during her campaign in 2012.

The expenses for the program are currently shared by municipalities and regional education offices, with the portion depending on each region.

Conservative mayors including Hong Joon-pyo have been reluctant to assign budgets for free meal schemes, resulting in a lower proportion of students enjoying free meals in such regions.

In July, Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of the minor opposition party submitted a revision to the School Meal Act in an attempt to protest Hong’s decision to stop funding the free meal program. The revision was aimed at expanding municipalities’ responsibility to implement the free meal scheme and make it mandatory for the central government to cover more than half of the amount needed to buy ingredients for school meals.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)