Seoul City Awarded the Presidential Prize in the '2020 Childcare Service Government Awards'

Expansion of Childcare Infrastructure Including National and Public Daycare Centers and Excellence in COVID-19 Prevention

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 24th, Seoul City announced that Seoul and Chungcheongnam-do received the highest award, the 'Presidential Award,' among 17 metropolitan cities and provinces in the '2020 Childcare Merit Government Awards' conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare annually evaluates local governments based on their childcare project performance, contribution to government childcare policies, development of special local government policies, contribution to improving childcare teachers' treatment, contribution to the quality and safety management of daycare centers, and exemplary cases of childcare-related system improvements, awarding local governments with significant achievements in childcare projects.

Seoul City received high evaluations for expanding childcare infrastructure such as increasing public daycare centers, efforts to successfully establish the government's childcare support system reform and the Nuri Curriculum reform, and proactive measures against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Since 2016, Seoul City has opened an average of 200 public daycare centers annually, totaling over 1,000 centers, and the utilization rate has increased every year, currently recording 43.8%, which is about three times higher than other cities and provinces.

Seoul City also proactively distributed quarantine supplies (6.4 billion KRW) such as masks and hand sanitizers from the early stages of COVID-19, supported daycare center disinfection costs (2.8 billion KRW), and provided emergency operating funds (6.6 billion KRW) to ensure the safety of children and maintain employment for daycare center staff.

Song Da-young, Director of the Seoul City Women and Family Policy Office, said, "I would like to express my gratitude to childcare workers and parents who did not give up on either COVID-19 quarantine or childcare," adding, "We will continue to do our best to share the childcare burden publicly, recognizing that childcare is not only a family issue but also a social responsibility."

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