POSCO foundation opens art schools for children
POSCO launched an art school program for children in cities where it has steel mills, as part of the group’s pursuit of corporate citizenship, the steelmaker said Thursday.
According to POSCO, its philanthropy foundation, the POSCO 1% Foundation, launched the art education program for 1,030 children at 76 daycare centers in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.
Starting this month, the program will provide classes in handcraft, dance, literature, music and illustration for the next six months.
For the program, the foundation has been working with Korea Mecenat Association and Seoul National University Social Welfare Department to develop programs customized for children. After running it for six months, the foundation will collect feedback from lecturers and participants to update the program.
“With the help of the foundation, children were provided with enough support,” a lecturer at a Pohang-based daycare center said. “I believe this will be an opportunity to help children to better experience artistic activities.”
For the program, the foundation hired 31 teachers with expertise in child education and a variety of artistic fields. They are mostly young jobseekers and women returning to the workforce after raising children.
The POSCO 1% Foundation was established in 2013 and is operated with donations from employees and executives of POSCO Group units and their partner companies.
The employees voluntarily donate 1 percent of their monthly salary to the foundation, which runs various philanthropy programs for children, multiracial families and the disabled.
“With the program, POSCO seeks to support the growth of children by giving them artistic experiences, and practice the corporate philosophy of corporate citizenship in local communities,” a POSCO official said.