'Yubotonghap' Ministry of Education to Take Charge of Infant and Toddler Care... "Field Application from 2025" (Comprehensive)

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, which aims to unify the management system of kindergartens and daycare centers. The purpose 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 (cities, provinces, and districts), 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 ‘Unified Management System for Yubo’ plan at the Government Seoul Office. Before the briefing, 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 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.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Yubotonghap was initiated due to the recognition that the current dual management system of 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/district offices to the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial offices of education. The transfer targets duties defined under the ‘Early Childhood Care Act.’ The process will be carried out in three stages: first transferring central government agencies (Stage 1), then local government agencies (Stage 2), and finally applying the integrated model (Stage 3), spanning from this year through 2024 and beyond 2025.

Financial transfers will also take place. The principle is to ensure ‘continuous budget support’ for early childhood, parents, teachers, and institutions, and to prioritize ‘the best interests of young children.’ In Stage 1, the central government budget from the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be transferred to the Ministry of Education; in Stage 2, budgets from metropolitan/provincial and city/district governments will be transferred to metropolitan/provincial offices of education, with the legal basis to be specified through consultation. In Stage 3, the scale of additional budgets and funding methods will be negotiated, and the establishment of a special account will be pursued.

Legal amendments will 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 formed. The Ministry of Education will operate a working-level consultative group, and metropolitan/provincial offices of education will also 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 Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education, and the Council of Governors.

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

On the same 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.

After the press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Lee responded to reporters’ questions about whether the central government budget transfer could happen immediately with the revision of the Government Organization Act, saying, “At today’s government-party consultation and the promotion committee meeting, there was consensus that a so-called ‘two-track’ approach is much more feasible.” He added, “The Government Organization Act is targeted to pass by the end of this year.” Vice Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon also said, “Once the ministries are integrated in Stage 1, the central government budget currently supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be transferred to the Ministry of Education immediately.” He added, “The special account for early childhood education will remain as it is until it expires in 2025.”

Regarding the question about the ‘field application timing,’ he answered, “It is set to be applied from 2025. It will not happen all at once but will be reviewed to proceed gradually, flexibly, and adaptively.”

Regarding the ‘transferred budget,’ it was stated that early childhood education amounts to 5.6 trillion KRW (3.9 trillion KRW from local education finances, 1.7 trillion KRW from the special account), and early childhood care amounts to 10 trillion KRW (5.1 trillion KRW from the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s central government budget, 3.1 trillion KRW from local governments, and 1.8 trillion KRW from the special account), totaling 15.6 trillion KRW.

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