Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Strengthens Supervision Following Passage of 'Kindergarten Three Acts'

Prohibition of Concurrent Positions as Kindergarten Principal and Accounting Fraud for School Foundation Chairperson

The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education announced measures to strengthen the public nature of private kindergartens in accordance with the amendment of the three kindergarten laws on the 21st.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education plans to strengthen the public nature of private kindergartens following the passage of the Kindergarten 3 Acts through the National Assembly on the 13th.

The Office of Education held a briefing at the press room of the government building on the 21st and announced measures to strengthen the public nature of private kindergartens in accordance with the revision of the Kindergarten 3 Acts.

The Kindergarten 3 Acts were passed by the National Assembly on the 13th, including amendments to the Private School Act, Early Childhood Education Act, and School Meals Act, following the exposure of a list of corrupt kindergartens by Assemblyman Park Yong-jin in 2018, which raised the need for institutional supplementation of private kindergartens.

According to the amendment to the Private School Act, the previous law that allowed the chairman of the school corporation to concurrently serve as the principal of a kindergarten will now prohibit concurrent positions for kindergartens, just like schools.

Additionally, transfer or lending of funds to other accounts and unauthorized use for purposes other than intended are prohibited, and violations will be subject to imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

The amendment to the Early Childhood Education Act requires all kindergartens with kindergarten operation committees to disclose meeting minutes, and matters related to child abuse are also included in the review and advisory items of the operation committee.

The names of kindergartens that have received orders to return subsidies or support funds or administrative dispositions will be disclosed along with information on violations and details of the dispositions.

The Office of Education has prepared future measures in five areas to strengthen the public nature of private kindergartens: reducing parental burden, enhancing educational capacity, ensuring accounting transparency, improving teacher treatment, and institutional improvement and maintenance.

To reduce parental burden, starting this year, an additional monthly support of 50,000 won for children aged 3 to 5, up to 100,000 won monthly for low-income families, and 2,200 won per meal for 5-year-old children's meal expenses will be promoted. In particular, support for children's meal expenses will be gradually expanded not only to 5-year-olds but also to 3- and 4-year-olds.

Measures to enhance educational capacity include operating kindergartens centered on early childhood and play based on the ‘2019 Revised Nuri Curriculum,’ after-school play kindergartens, happy and safe kindergartens, support for professional learning communities, and teacher training operations.

To ensure accounting transparency, the K-EduFine usage environment infrastructure will be established and fully introduced to private kindergartens starting in March.

Additionally, starting this year, private kindergarten teachers' meal expenses will be supported up to 70,000 won per month, with plans to gradually expand this support.

The 96 private kindergartens in Jeonnam are generally accepting the passage and revision of the Kindergarten 3 Acts naturally. However, voices are emerging that urgent measures tailored to the circumstances of Jeonnam's mostly small private kindergartens are needed.

A principal of a kindergarten in Jeonnam said, “Public kindergartens and schools have administrative experts managing K-EduFine, but private kindergartens, which lack personnel, require principals or teachers to manage K-EduFine themselves,” and added, “To ensure accounting transparency, it is essential to provide administrative personnel to private kindergartens.”

Jung Hye-ja, Director of Innovation Education, said, “With the passage of the Kindergarten 3 Acts through the National Assembly, the efforts made so far to strengthen the public nature of private kindergartens have been institutionalized,” and added, “We will further strengthen support for the establishment of the system on this occasion.”

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