65 Seocho-gu Open Childcare Centers Selected... Ranked No.1 Among Seoul Autonomous Districts

Selected 35.5% of All Daycare Centers in Seocho-gu (Seoul Average 18.3%): Ranked 1st Among Seoul Districts

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seocho-gu (District Mayor Cho Eun-hee) has selected 65 "2020 Open Childcare Centers" to prevent child abuse and create a childcare environment that parents can trust, in response to the serious social issue of repeated child abuse incidents occurring in daycare centers.

This accounts for 35.5% of all daycare centers in Seocho-gu (65 out of 183 centers), ranking first among the 25 autonomous districts in Seoul.

This is nearly twice the Seoul city average selection rate of Open Childcare Centers, which stands at 18.3% (984 out of 5,391 centers).

An "Open Childcare Center" is a type of daycare center where parents can regularly participate in the physical space, childcare programs, and operations of the center. It is an operational model that allows parents to entrust their children with confidence and actively communicate and engage with the childcare center.

Since September, the district received applications and, based on the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s selection criteria and guidelines, conducted on-site inspections and deliberations by the selection committee. As a result, 16 new centers and 49 reselected centers, totaling 65 centers, were finally chosen as Open Childcare Centers for this year.

The evaluation criteria include five categories: openness, which assesses the openness of the childcare center’s space and information disclosure; participation, which evaluates parental involvement; diversity, which assesses cooperation and linkage with the local community; communication, which evaluates support for home childcare through COVID-19 response materials and stay-at-home programs; and others. Centers must score at least 80 points in total to be selected.

Childcare centers selected as Open Childcare Centers receive incentives such as additional points during re-commissioning evaluations of national and public childcare centers and extra points when newly selecting exemplary childcare centers in Seocho.

Seocho District Mayor Cho Eun-hee said, “I thank the childcare staff who strive to communicate with families by providing non-face-to-face stay-at-home programs despite the difficulties in space openness and parental participation caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.” She added, “We plan to expand the number of Open Childcare Centers every year to create a safe childcare environment that all daycare centers in the region can trust and open.”

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