Seoul City Launches Pilot Project for 'Dahamtge Childcare Center,' a Childcare Model Involving Daycare Centers, Parents, and Local Communities

Building Trust and Connecting Local Community's Physical and Human Resources to Enhance Childcare Service Quality
4 Participation Activation Strategies → Supporting Customized Model Design Tailored to Each Daycare Center's Situation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 25th that it will launch a pilot project for the participatory childcare model called ‘Dahamtgae Daycare Center,’ where daycare centers, parents, and the local community become one childcare community to create a high-quality care environment together.

‘Dahamtgae Daycare Center’ is a model that builds trust through continuous and voluntary participation of childcare providers such as daycare centers and parents, and enhances the quality of childcare by linking various physical and human resources within the local community, such as children’s forests, parks, and schools. So far, childcare practitioners and experts have emphasized that trust between parents who entrust their children and daycare centers must come first to prevent child abuse and provide better childcare services. They have raised their voices that more active participation of parents is essential for this.

Accordingly, to realize the participatory childcare model, Seoul has derived four main directions: ▲strengthening caregiver capabilities ▲supporting childcare teacher activities ▲activating the operation committee ▲community participation. Applying these directions, customized models tailored to each daycare center’s situation will be designed and smooth implementation will be supported. The entire pilot project of ‘Dahamtgae Daycare Center’ will be closely supported by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family.

Since each daycare center has different environments and childcare members, Seoul plans to apply customized models derived through prior diagnosis and consulting instead of a ‘top-down’ uniform model. By enhancing the participation capabilities of childcare stakeholders through education and meeting support, voluntary participation will be encouraged, and physical and human resources such as public facilities and volunteers in the community will be integrated into childcare activities to establish a ‘local care system.’

Thirty daycare centers to participate in the ‘Dahamtgae Daycare Center’ pilot project will be publicly recruited until the 16th of next month. Applications can be submitted through each autonomous district from the 7th to the 16th of next month. After screening by the selection committee, the final selection will be made by the end of June, and the pilot project will begin in July.

For the finally selected daycare centers, a preliminary diagnosis will be conducted, and based on the diagnosis results, professional consultants will provide customized consulting tailored to the situations of caregivers and childcare teachers. Among the four promotion tasks, tasks suitable for each daycare center will be designed in a customized manner. A pool of about 20 professional consultants, including childcare experts, will also be organized and operated.

Gang Hee-eun, Seoul’s childcare officer, said, “Participation of childcare members and the community is the top priority to build trust between parents and daycare centers and to improve the quality of childcare by preventing child abuse. The ‘Dahamtgae Daycare Center’ pilot project is the starting point for creating a voluntary and continuous participation base among various childcare stakeholders such as daycare centers, caregivers, and the local community. We will do our best to promote the spread of a culture of voluntary participation and enhance daycare centers’ ability to utilize local community resources so that the care community can be revitalized.”

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