Kindergartens Refusing to Submit Financial Documents May Face 'Child Enrollment Suspension' Penalties

Failure to Comply with Administrative Orders Leads to 6 Months to 1.5 Years Suspension
Fines Increased for Using Illegal Names like 'English Kindergarten'
Legal Basis Established for National and Public Kindergartens to Have Branches

Kindergarten (Photo unrelated to the article content)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Administrative sanctions of 'suspension of child recruitment' will become possible for kindergartens that refuse to submit audit materials.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Education announced that it reviewed and approved a partial amendment to the 'Enforcement Decree of the Early Childhood Education Act' at the Cabinet meeting. It reflected the major tasks announced in the 'Follow-up Measures to Support Private Kindergartens and Strengthen Publicness' plan announced in March.

With this amendment to the enforcement decree, the effectiveness of sanctions against kindergartens refusing to submit audit materials can be strengthened. If a kindergarten that refuses to comply with the order to submit audit materials does not follow the correction order, it will be prohibited from recruiting children for 6 months for the first violation, 1 year for the second violation, and 1 year and 6 months for the third or more violations.

To expand national and public kindergartens, in places where it is difficult to establish a single kindergarten, a 'branch director' similar to an elementary school branch can be operated. Considering the demand for early childhood education and commuting convenience, legal grounds were established to allow the superintendent of education to recognize and separate the facilities and equipment of public kindergartens to other locations.

For illegal names such as 'OO English Kindergarten,' 'OO Play School,' 'Preschool,' or 'Kids School,' the criteria for imposing fines were raised to the maximum level allowed by law. The fine is 3 million won for the first violation and 5 million won for the third or more violations. The processing period for the superintendent of education to review the closure approval of private kindergartens was extended from the existing 15 days to 60 days to allow for a more thorough review.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye stated, "With this amendment to the enforcement decree, we expect that by managing and supporting the strengthening of publicness and transparency of private kindergartens more substantially, the status of kindergartens as ‘schools’ can be enhanced."

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