Gwangju City Expands Initiative to Make Gwangju a Better Place to Have and Raise Children

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 28th that the policy of ‘Making Gwangju a Good Place to Have and Raise Children,’ an integrated and comprehensive measure to address ultra-low birth rates and youth population outflow, will be expanded and promoted this year as well.

First, starting in March, the existing daycare center operation system will change from customized classes and full-day classes to basic care and extended care under the revised childcare policies and systems. Basic care will be provided until 4 p.m., and extended care will be provided after 4 p.m.

Extended care will have dedicated teachers assigned, improving working conditions by reducing the workload of childcare teachers.

The Nuri childcare curriculum for children aged 3 to 5 will be reorganized and implemented with an emphasis on play, child-centered approaches, and increased field autonomy. An electronic attendance system providing parent notification services for children’s arrival and departure at daycare centers will also be introduced.

Additionally, the number of institutions providing hourly childcare services will be expanded from the existing 19 to 22, and the 24-hour emergency childcare center operation will be extended to Saturdays starting in the second half of this year.

The community childcare sharing centers, which provide cooperative care among neighbors, will be expanded from 6 to 7 locations. To improve in-home care support services, dedicated personnel for case management of babysitters and support for babysitters’ cold and flu vaccination costs (for 1,000 people) will be newly provided.

To reduce the childcare burden on dual-income families, the city has been additionally training and supporting ‘hospital child caregivers’ who provide comprehensive care including nursing for hospitalized children since last year.

Furthermore, Gwangju City is expanding the support target for the difference in childcare fees borne by parents using private and home daycare centers (the difference between government-supported childcare fees and the maximum fee limit charged by each facility) to all children, raising the unit cost for daycare center meal support, and promoting the ‘Making Gwangju a Good Place to Have and Raise Children’ policy so that citizens can feel and empathize with it in their daily lives.

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