Seocho-gu Lowers Number of Children per Teacher in '3-Year-Old Class' from 15 to 10

Increasing Interaction Between Teachers and Children During Critical Support Periods to Enhance Teacher-Child-Parent Satisfaction... Two Additional Dedicated Early Childhood Centers Operated... Expanding Specialized Early Childhood Education to Improve Parent Satisfaction

Making Chrysanthemum Jeon

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) will conduct a pilot project starting in March to lower the teacher-to-child ratio in the Seocho-type shared daycare centers for young children (ages 3 to 5) from 1:15 to 1:10 in the 3-year-old class to provide high-quality education.

Age 3 is a transitional period from infancy to early childhood, but children still require significant assistance from teachers during meals, play, and toileting activities.

Lowering the number of children per teacher in the 3-year-old class from 15 to 10

From the perspective of childcare teachers, the teacher-to-child ratio in the 2-year-old class is 1:7, but it suddenly more than doubles to 1:15 when children turn 3, causing an excessive workload.

The district expects that improving the teacher-to-child ratio will reduce childcare stress for teachers and increase interaction between teachers and children, leading to more specialized early childhood education and higher parental satisfaction.

The pilot program will begin in March at Seocho 1-dong Ha-eun Daycare Center, Seongbundo Daycare Center, and Banpo Prestige Haneul Daycare Center to coincide with the school enrollment period.

Two additional ‘Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Centers’ launched nationwide for the first time

Seocho-gu is also operating the nation’s first ‘Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Centers’ through a shift in approach.

Among the Seocho-type shared daycare centers grouped in clusters of 3 to 6, one center is operated exclusively for children aged 3 to 5 as a ‘Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Center,’ while the other centers in the shared daycare group have expanded their infant classes with long waiting lists to improve childcare access for infants seeking enrollment.

Moreover, the Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Centers can operate separate classes for ages 3, 4, and 5, allowing for specialized childcare programs tailored to the characteristics of young children, resulting in high parental satisfaction with childcare services.

By restructuring the operation through cooperation among daycare centers, the district has resolved supply-demand imbalances and even improved enrollment rates.

In fact, the enrollment rate for the early childhood class at Nuria-mi Daycare Center, a Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Center in Seocho 4-dong shared daycare, is 95.4%, significantly higher than the Seocho-gu average of 82.2%.

A parent with a child attending a Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Center expressed high satisfaction, saying, “Since the center is dedicated only to young children, specialized education by age group is possible, which is great, and the anxiety about waiting for admission has greatly decreased.”

In addition to the existing Nuria-mi Daycare Center in Seocho 4-dong, two more centers?Bangbae Open Daycare Center in the Bangbae area and Sarang Daycare Center in the Banpo/Jamwon area?will be added as Dedicated Early Childhood Daycare Centers to further resolve childcare supply imbalances.

‘Professional Training Course for Early Childhood Care Teachers’ launched... Upgrading Childcare

Since 2015, the district has operated a ‘Professional Training Course for Infant Care Teachers’ to improve the job skills and expertise of infant care teachers and verify the effectiveness of the training.

Building on this, the district will open a ‘Professional Training Course for Early Childhood Care Teachers’ in June. This course supports field-centered education to enhance interaction between teachers and children and to enable teachers in early childhood classes to apply what they learn directly in childcare settings.

Since this is not mandatory continuing education, incentives will be provided to participants to encourage voluntary participation by teachers.

Meanwhile, based on high satisfaction from parents and teachers, 84 daycare centers, accounting for 52% of the entire district, are currently participating as Seocho-type shared daycare centers.

Seocho-gu plans to expand Seocho-type shared daycare centers with a goal of 80% participation among all daycare centers this year.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Jo stated, “This year, we will proactively implement projects to further specialize the childcare and education of young children enrolled in Seocho-type shared daycare centers. Teachers must be happy for children to be happy. We will strengthen the professionalism of childcare teachers so they can take pride in caring for children.”

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