Ministry of Education to Fully Promote Integration of Childcare and Early Childhood Education... Ministry to Take Charge Starting with 'Young Children Education'

Lee Ju-ho Announces 'Unified Plan for Retention Management System'
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Provincial Offices → Ministry of Education, Provincial Offices of Education
Legal Amendments for Centralized Task Transfer Effective This Month

The Ministry of Education will actively promote the 'Yubotonghap' initiative to unify the management system of kindergartens and daycare centers. The aim is to implement continuous education policies from early childhood. The plan involves transferring the responsibilities for early childhood care and education, currently managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments at the city, county, and district levels, to the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial offices of education.

On the morning of the 28th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Lee Ju-ho announced the 'Plan to Unify the Yubo Management System' at the Government Seoul Office. Before the briefing, Deputy Prime Minister Lee held the 2nd meeting of the 'Early Childhood Education and Care Integration Promotion Committee' and stated, "Yubotonghap is a process to establish a system that allows our children to receive world-class education and care without discrimination from age zero. If we implement it step by step, we will be able to devise the best Yubotonghap plan for the happy growth of our children."

Earlier, on the 15th of last month, President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed Deputy Prime Minister Lee to "unify the management system of child care services under the Ministry of Education and complete a tangible Yubotonghap in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare."

Yubotonghap was initiated based on the recognition that the current dual management system for early childhood care and education causes inefficiencies and disparities. The goal is to continue education and care policies seamlessly from early childhood.

The core of the plan is to transfer early childhood care responsibilities from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, metropolitan/provincial governments, and city/county/district offices to the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial offices of education. The transfer targets tasks defined under the 'Early Childhood Care Act.' The process will be carried out in phases: first transferring central government responsibilities (Phase 1), then local government responsibilities (Phase 2), and finally applying an integrated model (Phase 3), spanning from this year through 2024 and beyond 2025.

Financial transfers will also take place. The principle is to ensure the 'continuous support of budgets' currently provided to young children, parents, teachers, and institutions, and to prioritize the 'best interests of young children.' In Phase 1, the national budget from the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be transferred to the Ministry of Education; in Phase 2, budgets from metropolitan/provincial and city/county/district governments will be transferred to metropolitan/provincial offices of education. The legal basis for this will be specified through consultations. In Phase 3, the scale of additional budgets and funding methods will be negotiated, and the establishment of a special account will be pursued.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Legal amendments will also be pursued to facilitate the transfer of duties. Under the current 'Government Organization Act,' the responsibility for 'early childhood care' will be changed from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to the Ministry of Education. The 'Early Childhood Care Act' will be amended to change the authority over early childhood care duties from the Minister of Health and Welfare to the Minister of Education. Jurisdiction over central support organizations such as the Korea Childcare Promotion Institute, the Central Childcare Support Center, and the Daycare Center Safety Mutual Aid Association will also be transferred to the Ministry of Education.

To promote the transfer of duties, a 'Transfer Preparation Consultative Body' will be established. The Ministry of Education will operate a working-level consultative group, and metropolitan/provincial offices of education will form task forces (TFs) to jointly respond to the transfer. Central and local agencies will discuss detailed progress mainly through a 'four-party working-level consultative meeting' involving director-level officials from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Council of Superintendents of Metropolitan and Provincial Offices of Education, and the Council of Governors of Metropolitan and Provincial Governments.

The Ministry of Education will begin pursuing legal amendments for the transfer of central government duties starting this month. Subsequently, it will check the status of TF formations from the end of next month.

On this day, the Ministry of Education announced that it will realize Yubotonghap based on the 'Top 10 Vision Policies' through the integration. These include ▲the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial offices of education taking responsibility for education and care from age zero ▲guaranteeing curricula that consider the characteristics and developmental continuity of young children ▲providing high-quality meals and snacks without discrimination to all young children ▲ensuring educational rights for young children with special education needs ▲and strengthening teachers' professionalism and capabilities.

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