Jeonnam Gwangju AI Gifted High School opening delayed… Scheduled for March 2029

Construction to build an AI gifted high school in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, which is being promoted to nurture artificial intelligence (AI) talent, is expected to begin next year.

Although administrative procedural issues such as sharing of operating costs and change of site use were resolved, due to schedule delays, the opening of the school was postponed to 2029, two years later than originally planned.

According to Jeonnam Gwangju Unified Special City on the 10th, the company plans to finalize the operating cost sharing and administrative procedures required to promote the AI ​​gifted inventory establishment project and begin construction next year.

The issue of sharing operating costs was resolved in December last year when the government decided to cover the entire amount, and the establishment-related budget of 3.14 billion won was also reflected in this year's government budget.

In the meantime, the city requested full government support for operating expenses, and the government requested an expansion of local cost sharing, which led to conflict, but the entire amount was settled with government funds.

The process of changing the use of the site, which was designated as an industrial/office facility site, to a school was also recently completed.

The AI ​​Gifted High School is a core project for cultivating AI talent and building a leading city that connects to universities, graduate schools, and artificial intelligence academies promoted by the city.

In 2023, the Ministry of Science and ICT and Gwangju City at the time began the project, and in 2024, an amendment to the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology Act, which allows the establishment and operation of a gifted school affiliated with GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), was passed by the National Assembly.

In August of the same year, the project gained momentum as the exemption from the preliminary feasibility study was confirmed by the Ministry of Science and ICT's National Research and Development Project Evaluation General Committee.

However, the plan was later put on hold due to differences of opinion between the government and Gwangju City over the burden of operating costs.

AI Gifted High School will be built as a GIST-affiliated boarding school in the area of ​​Cheomdan 3 District, Buk-gu, Gwangju, Jeollanam-do. The student quota is 150, and a plan is being implemented to select 50 students per grade nationwide.

The key is to introduce a credit system and no grade system and link specialized education in the AI ​​field with GIST's research and education infrastructure.

An official from Gwangju City, South Jeolla Province said, “We have completed the administrative procedures necessary to start construction, and construction will begin next year and the school will be able to open in 2029.”