Gangdong-gu to Expand 8 Public Childcare Centers This Year... Increase to 100 Centers by 2024

Operation of 85 National and Public Childcare Centers in 2021, Expanding National and Public Usage Rate to 50% by 2024... Creating Balanced Childcare Infrastructure by Purchasing and Rebuilding Private Buildings in Residential Areas as well as Apartment Complexes

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon), aiming to expand 100 public daycare centers by 2024, has completed the expansion of 8 public daycare centers this year.

Starting in February, the district opened two centers: ▲Godeok Gangil District Complex 6 Public Gangdong Haemil Daycare Center and ▲Complex 7 Public Haebom Daycare Center. In March, three more centers were opened sequentially: ▲Godeok Xi Public Ttobagi Daycare Center, ▲Amsa 1-dong Public Garam Seulgi Daycare Center, and ▲Godeok Gangil District Complex 9 Public Sarang Green Daycare Center.

On April 1, three additional centers in Godeok Gangil District were opened: ▲Complex 8 Public Garaeyeoul Daycare Center, ▲Complex 11 Public Haetteuneun Daycare Center, and ▲Complex 14 Public Dororong Daycare Center. All eight centers planned for expansion in 2021 have now opened, and currently, a total of 85 public daycare centers are in operation.

The district is working to build a balanced childcare infrastructure by purchasing and newly constructing private buildings in residential areas to meet the childcare demands not only of residents in large apartment complexes but also of those in residential neighborhoods.

The Amsa 1-dong Public Garam Seulgi Daycare Center, opened in March, is a case where a private daycare center in a residential area was purchased and rebuilt as a public daycare center. A total budget of 4.8 billion KRW was invested.

Although the public daycare center expansion project generally requires about a 5% local government contribution, to reduce regional disparities in public daycare usage, the district bore 48% (2.3 billion KRW) of the costs to promote the project.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “To create a childcare environment that parents can trust, we will continue to expand public daycare centers and plan to increase the public daycare usage rate from the current 45% to 50% by 2024.”

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