The Estimation of Local Education Finance Burden Due to the Fiscal Requirements for AI Digital Textbook Subscription

The purpose of this study is to estimate the fiscal requirements for AI digital textbook subscriptions, which will be introduced with a subscription-based pricing model from 2025 to 2028, and to forecast the burden on local education finance for provincial and municipal education offices. It also aims to present policy considerations regarding future funding allocation that should be taken into account in legislative decision-making. Based on the 2025-2028 schedule for AI digital textbook implementation announced by the Ministry of Education in June 2023, the number of students by grade, and the set price ranges, the results show that applying Scenario S1-1 (an average monthly subscription fee of 5,000 KRW with a 12-month subscription for semester-based textbooks) would require a total of 4.7255 trillion KRW in student subscription fees over four years. Furthermore, it is expected that the fiscal requirements will range from 1.9252 trillion KRW under the minimum scenario (S2-2) to 6.6156 trillion KRW under the maximum scenario (S1-3). Given that the introduction of AI digital textbooks will significantly increase local education finance burdens due to the substantial fiscal requirements involved, potentially causing major changes in the existing textbook system, it is deemed appropriate that this initiative be pursued based on prompt and clear legislative decisions by the National Assembly under the principle of the rule of law for education systems as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. When these premises are clear, the following funding options can be considered: ① extending the effective period or removing the sunset clause for special grants that increase national support for high school tuition-free policies, including textbook costs, ② abolishing the temporary special grant system for digital education innovation needs to secure additional ordinary grant funding, ③ inducing investment from the central government’s general budget to secure additional funding for AI digital textbooks, and ④ utilizing temporary national project special grants in 2025.