Chungnam Expands All-Day Care Program to Eliminate 'Initial Care Blind Spots'

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is taking steps to eliminate blind spots in elementary school care through the expansion of the ‘Chungnam-type All-day Care Project’.

According to the province on the 5th, the Chungnam-type All-day Care Project supplements gaps in government-led public care by linking and cooperating with community resources such as schools, villages, and parents to realize care. The project was independently launched by the province in 2019.

Currently, about 29,000 local elementary school students receive care services through this initiative. However, it is estimated that approximately 21,000 children still remain in care blind spots.

Accordingly, starting this year, the province plans to implement customized care policies by region, distinguishing between inside and outside schools, urban and rural areas, aiming to eliminate elementary care blind spots by 2023.

This year, 1,662,590,000 KRW has been allocated for the elementary care project. This amount is 16 times larger than last year’s 102,960,000 KRW.

The budget will be invested in extended operation of elementary care classrooms (170,000,000 KRW), expansion of Chungnam-type All-day Care Centers (492,590,000 KRW), and support for village after-school care activation programs (1,000,000,000 KRW), among others.

Specifically, to address care discontinuity issues for dual-income families, the province will support up to 1,500,000 KRW per month for each school classroom that extends care until 7 p.m. Additionally, facilities that have not yet installed care centers will receive up to 130,000,000 KRW for installation, personnel, and operating expenses.

Support will also be provided to activate village after-school care programs. Schools operating care and education programs for elementary students, non-profit corporations or organizations capable of securing space, and resident autonomy organizations will be selected through a public contest and receive up to 70,000,000 KRW in funding.

Furthermore, to ensure stable implementation of the Chungnam-type All-day Care Project, the province plans to enact related ordinances in the first half of this year and establish a provisional ‘Chungnam-type All-day Care Integrated Support Center’ to comprehensively support care projects.

Kim Seok-pil, Director of the Low Birthrate, Health and Welfare Office of the province, stated, “Due to the diversification of care providers such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, confusion and complaints from parents continue in the field. Care is fully realized when the government, local governments, schools, communities, and parents cooperate and communicate. Considering this, the province will strive for institutional improvements and policy development to establish an integrated care foundation.”

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