Strengthened Penalties for Early Childhood Academies Using the Name 'Yeongeo Yuchiwon'

Education Trust Recovery Task Force, Follow-up Measures on the Three Kindergarten Laws Checked

Children in class at kindergarten (Photo is not related to the article content)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As cases of private kindergartens closing and converting into English academies for young children increase, the government has decided to strengthen sanctions to prohibit the use of the term "English Kindergarten."

On the morning of the 21st, the Ministry of Education held the 16th Education Trust Recovery Promotion Team meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye to discuss this measure.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo and Ministry of Education officials agreed to raise the standards for imposing fines and establish new penalties for using the name "English Kindergarten" when the institution is actually an English academy for young children and not a kindergarten. Under the current Enforcement Decree of the Early Childhood Education Act, a fine of 2 million KRW is imposed for the first violation, 3 million KRW for the second, and 5 million KRW for three or more violations when an institution uses the name "kindergarten" without being one.

In preparation for the new semester, monitoring will be strengthened in cooperation with metropolitan and provincial offices of education for kindergartens that are considering closure. According to the revised Enforcement Decree of the Early Childhood Education Act amended last year, detailed closure requirements and closure approval standards for each city and province will be organized, and the processing period for closure approval will be extended from the current 15 days to allow for a thorough review of the appropriateness and validity of the closure approval.

Follow-up plans for the "Kindergarten 3 Acts (Amendments to the Private School Act, Early Childhood Education Act, and School Meals Act)" passed by the National Assembly plenary session on the 13th were also discussed.

The Kindergarten 3 Acts stipulate that when a kindergarten commits accounting fraud or other violations and receives administrative sanctions such as subsidy repayment or enrollment reduction, related information will be disclosed so that parents can view it. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education will amend the relevant enforcement decrees to establish standards for the scope, procedures, and methods of disclosure.

The establishment of private kindergarten operation committees and the mandatory preparation and disclosure of meeting minutes will be enforced, and since the operation committees are also mandated to review and advise on matters related to child abuse prevention, these contents will be included in the amended enforcement decrees.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Eun-hye stated, "As we have made clear so far, we will strictly respond to unauthorized kindergarten closures that infringe on children's right to learn. With the institutional foundation for strengthening publicness established through the Kindergarten 3 Acts, we will prepare measures for public and private kindergartens to coexist and develop so that our children can receive quality education."

At the meeting, the implementation status of the private school innovation plan announced last month was also reviewed. Contents included in the private school innovation plan, such as disclosure of kinship relations among private school executives and expanded disclosure of university endowments, will be expedited for legislative and regulatory amendments to be implemented this year.

Additionally, all complaints within the Ministry of Education will be required to be approved by department heads or higher, and disciplinary measures such as warnings will be taken against public officials who handle complaints insincerely, thereby establishing plans to improve complaint services.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.