Gwangju City Conducts 'Online Idolbomi Education'...Nationwide 'First'

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 17th that it will conduct refresher training for childcare helpers online for the first time nationwide to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the refresher training is carried out smoothly.

Currently, there are about 900 childcare helpers in the jurisdiction, and they must complete refresher training every year to maintain their qualifications.

Gwangju City decided to conduct all 8 hours, except for the mandatory in-person training, online. In particular, the in-person training, which is usually held with 50 people per classroom, will be divided into groups of about 20 people, and the classrooms and surrounding areas will be disinfected twice a day to strictly adhere to quarantine rules.

The training will be entrusted to Dongkang University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation to improve the quality of childcare services and the professionalism of childcare helpers, and will be operated from the 25th of this month to the 30th of next month.

The curriculum consists of a total of 16 hours: 8 hours of basic courses including child abuse prevention, enhancement of child rights sensitivity, and sexual harassment prevention, and 8 hours of specialized courses. Childcare helpers will access the internet site opened by the educational institution, watch video lectures by the respective professors, and receive certification.

Meanwhile, Gwangju City was selected as an excellent local government for childcare helper training by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in both the first and second halves of 2019.

The childcare service is a government policy project where childcare helpers, who have completed professional training at government-designated institutions, visit families experiencing childcare gaps due to dual-income households and safely care for children one-on-one.

Families with children aged from 3 months to under 12 years old can use the childcare service with government support ranging from 15% to 85%, depending on their income level.

Kang Young-sook, Acting Director of the Women's and Family Bureau of the city, said, “To create an environment favorable for having and raising children, conditions must be established so that more families can use the childcare service without burden.” She added, “We have proposed to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to expand the government support rate for childcare service fees, which currently ranges from 0% to 85%, to 30% to 100%.”

Families wishing to use the childcare service can receive consultation by contacting the childcare service homepage, the consultation hotline, or the childcare service providers in the five districts.

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