Seocho-gu Introduces Nation's First 'Shared Daycare Center' System

The Nation's First Public-Private Integrated Model... Operating 3-7 Public and Private Childcare Centers Together... One Year of Pilot Operation of 'Seocho-type Shared Childcare Center'... Satisfaction Among Parents, Childcare Centers, and Caregivers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seocho-gu, which has attracted attention with the introduction of the nation’s first new concept ‘Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center,’ is scheduled to hold the ‘Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center Performance Report Meeting’ on December 8, drawing great interest.

Seocho-gu announced that the pilot project of the ‘Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center,’ which involved four daycare centers in the Seocho area starting last September, achieved satisfactory results for both parents and participating daycare centers within one year of its introduction.

This initiative simultaneously addressed chronic childcare issues such as ‘waiting lists and childcare supply-demand imbalance’ while achieving cost reduction through joint purchasing and improving the quality of childcare.

The ‘Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center’ is a childcare system that groups 3 to 7 nearby public and private daycare centers and home daycare centers into one community, where public and private sectors jointly raise local children. It is a public-private integrated daycare center model that has never been implemented anywhere else in the country. However, private and home daycare centers must be ‘Seocho Model Daycare Centers’ to participate.

According to Seocho-gu, there were only 32 public daycare centers until the 5th local government administration. This means that only one center was built each year since the district’s establishment, resulting in the lowest childcare supply rate among Seoul’s 25 districts.

However, since taking office, Seocho-gu Mayor Cho Eun-hee set a bold plan called the ‘10x Plan’ for public daycare centers. Instead of building one center per year, the plan was to build more than 10 public daycare centers annually. In fact, the number of centers increased to 48 in 2016, 62 in 2017, and 74 in 2018, exceeding the goal by adding 42 centers in four years. Currently, Seocho-gu has built 82 public daycare centers, raising the childcare supply rate from the lowest 57% in Seoul to an impressive 93.4%.

However, the problem remains that no matter how many public daycare centers Seocho-gu builds, the number of children on waiting lists does not decrease.

Since 2017, Seocho-gu has recognized these issues through continuous communication such as academic research, childcare forums, expert meetings, and dialogues with parents called ‘Childcare Talk.’ To solve these problems, the concept of integration and sharing led to the birth of the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center.

In September 2019, four daycare centers were restructured on-site as if they were one facility, organized into infant-only, mixed infant and toddler, and toddler-only daycare centers.

As a result, the expansion of infant classes successfully reduced the actual number of infants on waiting lists from 286 (June 2019) to 173 (June 2020), a significant decrease of 113 children.

Also, by operating toddler-only daycare centers, the imbalance in childcare supply and demand in the Seocho 4-dong area was resolved, and even the enrollment rate increased. For example, the toddler class enrollment rate at Nuriumi Daycare Center was 95.4%, significantly higher than the Seocho-gu average of 82.2%.

After implementation, a satisfaction survey conducted in July 2020 with 187 parents in the Seocho area showed that 81.5% expressed their intention to continue enrollment, and program satisfaction was very high at 92.7%.

Over 50% of district daycare centers participated within one year of pilot operation

Following the initial pilot operation, the second pilot project planned for March 2020 aimed to add two districts in the Bangbae area and expand step-by-step. However, due to the groundbreaking success of the first shared daycare centers, applications from daycare centers in Seocho-gu flooded in, and by September 2020, 84 daycare centers across 17 districts participated as shared daycare centers.

Within one year of introduction, more than 50% of all 162 daycare centers in the district (excluding 21 workplace daycare centers) participated as shared daycare centers, regardless of public or private status.

The Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center promotes joint, shared, and win-win programs to improve childcare services in public-private daycare centers. It also analyzes local waiting lists to resolve childcare supply-demand imbalances and attempts operational restructuring. The most noticeable change in the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center’s operational system is the teachers.

Meanwhile, the district holds monthly working-level meetings to support specialized projects by district.

The Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center achieves a triple effect.

First, by grouping several daycare centers considering travel distance to expand scale, admission and class formation are jointly conducted according to local childcare demand, drastically reducing waiting lists. The flexible adjustment of enrollment capacity and supply-demand mismatches resolved many mismatches. This predictability in childcare demand allows for flexible class formation.

Second, economic benefits arise from joint operation of food ingredients, programs, instructors, and toys. Joint ordering improved the quality of meals and snacks and lowered purchase prices for daycare supplies such as bags and blankets, greatly helping parents’ financial situations. Large-scale performances and experiential learning, which are costly for individual daycare centers, are conducted jointly, enabling high-quality program operation?a major advantage of the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center.

Third, a system was created where public and private sectors can seek competition and cooperation.

This system allows for healthy competition, leading to qualitative improvements in childcare. Directors and teachers hold regular meetings to share ideas and know-how on daycare operation and childcare, and by running joint programs, the gap between daycare centers is reduced.

Seocho-gu Mayor Cho Eun-hee said, “Next year, we plan to expand the pilot project to 80%, and by 2022, all daycare centers will operate the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center,” adding, “It is a triple effect that improves childcare quality, resolves supply-demand mismatches, and supports the private sector.” She continued, “This new childcare policy attempt involving both public and private sectors is an asset not only in its results but also in its process,” and said, “The nation’s first new concept Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center, which raises children together, will expand nationwide and play a significant role in resolving the population cliff.”

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