Gyeongbuk Provincial Office of Education to Refund 'Tuition Fees' Burdened on Parents of Private Kindergarten Students

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] The Gyeongbuk Provincial Office of Education announced on the 19th that it will support 2.52 billion won in tuition fee deficits for March to May to alleviate the burden on parents caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and to resolve operational difficulties of private kindergartens.

The support targets private kindergartens that have refunded all parental contributions (including tuition fees) and paid full salaries to their affiliated teachers. The Office of Education will support tuition deficits for 208 kindergartens, excluding one kindergarten that did not apply and eight kindergartens without parental contributions, based on the documents submitted by private kindergartens.

For tuition fees for March and April, 50% of the deficit was shared and supported by the kindergartens, and 50% by the government and the Gyeongbuk Office of Education. Separately, the Office of Education decided to extend the temporary support project until May due to the school reopening on May 27. The tuition deficit for May will be borne 50% each by the kindergartens and the Gyeongbuk Office of Education.

Private kindergartens have been facing operational difficulties as expenditures such as staff salaries and necessary operational costs remained high due to the delayed school opening, while income decreased due to an increase in unregistered students caused by prolonged closures.

Superintendent Lim Jong-sik stated, "Through the temporary support project for private kindergartens, we expect to reduce the burden on parents, resolve operational difficulties of private kindergartens, and greatly help stabilize employment for kindergarten teachers."

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