Sejong Aims for 50% 'Public Childcare Utilization Rate'... Accelerating Expansion of National and Public Daycare Centers

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City is accelerating the expansion of public national and public daycare centers in the region with the goal of achieving a 50% utilization rate of public childcare services.

According to the city on the 28th, the city held an opening ceremony for the National and Public Dajeong Hana Daycare Center at the Dajeong-dong Complex Community Center and began its operation.

Dajeong Hana Daycare Center is the 75th national and public daycare center in the region. This year, the city has expanded a total of 24 national and public daycare centers with a budget of 3.6 billion KRW.

In particular, Dajeong Hana Daycare Center is significant as the first result of the 'National and Public Daycare Center Support Project,' which is promoted through an agreement between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments as part of Hana Financial Group's social contribution project.

The city and Hana Financial Group signed an agreement in May 2018 to promote the National and Public Daycare Center Support Project for the first time nationwide. The agreement was centered on the city bearing 30% of the project cost and Hana Financial Group supporting 70%.

Dajeong Hana Daycare Center has a total area of 902㎡ and includes childcare rooms, playrooms, and teacher rooms, with a total capacity of 94 children. Operation is entrusted to Childcare Management J1, selected through a public contest in July.

Following Dajeong Hana Daycare Center, the city plans to expand a total of 28 national and public daycare centers next year through the installation of new national and public daycare centers and the conversion of existing private daycare centers to national and public ones.

The city will also promote the expansion of small-scale national and public childcare facilities focused on infants. Small-scale national and public childcare facilities operate by selecting suitable facilities among home daycare centers operating in privately owned buildings that have applied for national and public conversion, and the city leases and utilizes them for 10 years.

Ultimately, the city plans to expand national and public daycare centers from 75 this year to 110 by 2022, raising the utilization rate of public childcare services supported by the government to 50%.

Lee Chun-hee, Mayor of Sejong City, said, "To revitalize public childcare, we will gradually expand national and public daycare centers and increase the number to 110 in the region by 2022." He added, "The city will strive not only to achieve quantitative growth in public childcare but also to promote coexistence and development between public and private daycare centers in the region."

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