Seocho-gu, Teachers: Solving the Biggest Challenge of Reducing Child-to-Teacher Ratios in Daycare Centers

Seocho-type Shared Childcare Center Child Ratio Reduction, Expansion of Entire Age 0 and Age 3 Classes Starting May

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) is responding swiftly to changes in the childcare field by implementing the nation’s first-ever “Teacher-to-Child Ratio Improvement Policy,” a long-standing wish in the childcare sector.

Starting in May, the district will reduce the number of children per teacher in all Seocho-type shared daycare centers’ classes for infants aged 0 and children aged 3 to improve childcare quality and provide a healthy and safe childcare environment.

Since 2019, the district has been running a pilot project lowering the number of children per teacher in the 0-year-old class from 1:3 to 1:2, and since March this year, it has reduced the teacher-to-child ratio in the 3-year-old class from 1:15 to 1:10.

From this month, the project will be expanded to all shared daycare centers faster than Seoul city.

Seoul, benchmarking Seocho-gu’s representative shared daycare center project, announced in April that it will select 110 public daycare centers to run a pilot project from July to improve the teacher-to-child ratio in the “0-year-old” and “3-year-old” classes.

Meanwhile, the childcare field has continuously demanded improvements in the teacher-to-child ratio.

# A teacher in charge of a 3-year-old class at a daycare center said, “Taking care of 15 children alone is really hard. I can’t take my eyes off the kids even for a moment, so I often can’t go to the bathroom or eat lunch properly. If a child gets hurt, I feel heavy-hearted and even guilty during childcare, so adjusting the teacher-to-child ratio is an urgent issue.”

The district has recognized the necessity of this “Teacher-to-Child Ratio Improvement Policy” through continuous communication in the childcare field, including childcare forums, expert meetings, and dialogues with parents, and has been running pilot projects early on.

※ 0-year-old class pilot operation: 5 centers in 2019, 10 centers in 2020, 20 centers in 2021

※ 3-year-old class pilot operation: started with 3 centers in March 2021

The response from the childcare field to the pilot operation was enthusiastic.

# Director Younghee Song of Seongpundo Daycare Center in Bangbae 1-dong, which is running a pilot project reducing the teacher-to-child ratio to 1:10 in the 3-year-old class, said, “When our children move from age 2 to 3, they are practically still infants in the early stages. Reducing the number of children allows teachers to be closer to the kids and provide more individualized care tailored to each child.” She added, “Parents are especially satisfied and very responsive to this childcare environment.”

Listening to these voices from the childcare field, the district will expand the “Teacher-to-Child Ratio Improvement Policy” to all 0-year-old and 3-year-old classes in Seocho-type shared daycare centers starting in May. This policy addresses a long-standing issue in childcare and reflects the reality of a rapidly declining child population due to low birth rates. Seocho-gu is the first in the nation to challenge lowering the teacher-to-child ratio for all 0-year-old and 3-year-old classes.

Currently, in the 0-year-old class, one teacher cares for three children. However, since infants aged 0 have relatively large individual developmental differences by month and require focused care, especially considering safety, adjusting the appropriate number of children per teacher is essential.

Therefore, the district will support all daycare centers operating two or more 0-year-old classes (capacity of 6 children) in Seocho-type shared daycare centers by providing two lead teachers and one assistant teacher, improving the teacher-to-child ratio from 1:3 to 1:2.

By supporting the reduction of the teacher-to-child ratio to 1:2 in the 0-year-old classes of Seocho-type shared daycare centers, it will be possible to provide customized childcare services considering the individual tendencies of infants with significant monthly differences, creating a safe childcare environment and improving parent satisfaction and trust.

Additionally, Seocho-gu decided to lower the capacity of the 3-year-old class from 15 to 10 children. Although 3-year-olds are transitioning from infants to toddlers, they still need teacher assistance during meals, play, and toileting. While the teacher-to-child ratio in the 2-year-old class is 1:7, it suddenly doubles to 1:15 in the 3-year-old class, increasing child density and overburdening teachers.

Accordingly, since March, the district has been running a pilot project in three daycare centers operating two or more 3-year-old classes among the 79 Seocho-type shared daycare centers, reducing the number of children per teacher from 15 to 10.

Moreover, when operating two or more 3-year-old classes in shared daycare centers, the district supports 80% of the lead teacher’s salary, reflecting the needs of the childcare field.

Considering that most daycare facilities find it difficult to operate two or more 3-year-old classes due to facility structure and that most currently operate only one 3-year-old class, the district plans to support one assistant teacher when the 3-year-old class size is between 11 and 15 children, improving the teacher-to-child ratio for all 3-year-old classes in Seocho-type shared daycare centers.

This will reduce teacher stress and increase teacher-child interactions, leading to more specialized early childhood education and higher parent satisfaction.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Jo said, “Adjusting the teacher-to-child ratio is a long-standing issue in the childcare field and has been continuously proposed by Seocho-gu to the government. We will proactively implement the adjustment of the number of children per teacher in all Seocho-type shared daycare centers for 0-year-old infants who need focused care and 3-year-olds where child density begins to increase, providing childcare policies that satisfy children, teachers, and parents alike.”

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