Education Ministry launches first contest for exemplary social-emotional education practices

[Financial News] The Ministry of Education and the Korea Educational Environment Protection Agency announced on the 22nd that they will hold the first-ever 2026 Korean-Style Social-Emotional Education Best Practices Contest to find outstanding teaching examples of Korean-style social-emotional education that supports students’ mental health. The Ministry of Education will expand the annual instructional time for this program from the current six sessions to 17 sessions in 2027.
Korean-style social-emotional education is preventive education for all students that helps them develop a positive mindset and improve their mental health. As part of the national agenda to “establish a multilayered support system for students’ mental health,” the Ministry of Education has introduced the program in schools nationwide since 2025. Students learn four core competencies: self-awareness and self-management, communication and collaboration, responsibility, and emotional care.
The Ministry of Education will continue supporting schools as instructional time expands. It plans to upload curriculum-linked materials for 17 sessions to EDUNET, an education information portal, by January 2027, and train around 1,500 lead teachers by February 2027.
The contest is open to teachers and education professionals, including supervisors and research officers, at elementary, middle, high, and special schools nationwide. Applications will be accepted from the 26th through the 4th of next month. The 10 entries that pass the document review will advance to presentations, which will determine the final rankings. The presentation round will be held in separate individual and group categories, and the final award recipients are expected to be announced at the end of November.
The winning entries will receive a commendation from the Minister of Education and a cash prize. In both the individual and group categories, the grand prize is 1 million won for one person or team, the top excellence award is 600,000 won for one person or team, and the excellence award is 300,000 won for three people or teams. The number of awards may be adjusted depending on the applications received and the evaluation results. The selected best practices are to be shared with schools through a casebook to be published in December and a results-sharing event.
Kim Tae-gyeong, Director General for Student Health and Safety Policy at the Ministry of Education, said, “Helping students find emotional stability in a rapidly changing society and develop the ability to communicate with others is the most important task for future education.” He added, “I hope this contest will bring wide attention to the warm and creative examples of education that nurtures emotional growth, which teachers in the field have quietly put into practice, and help spread them throughout schools.” 

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter