Dobong-gu Increases Childcare Budget Significantly Supporting Daycare Centers

Dobong-gu Increases Local Budget by 650 Million KRW for Childcare, Significantly Expands Support for Daycare Centers
Dobong-type 'Teacher-to-Child Ratio Improvement Project' Pilot Operation... Unlike Seoul City's Teacher Salary Support, Dobong-gu Provides Operating Expenses... Daycare Center Heating and Cooling Budget Increased by 50%, Additional Budget for Substitute Cooks and Aging Facility Environment Improvement

Oh Eon-seok, the mayor of Dobong-gu, is giving a greeting at the daycare center directors' meeting held on the 27th of last month.

Dobong-gu (District Mayor Oh Eon-seok) has allocated next year's district-funded childcare budget at 5.629 billion KRW, an increase of 650 million KRW. This represents a 13% rise compared to this year.

The district has significantly expanded support for daycare centers struggling due to a decline in enrollment caused by low birth rates, expecting to provide more stable childcare services.

As of October, the number of infants and toddlers in Dobong-gu was 10,481, a 28.7% decrease compared to 14,705 in 2017. During the same period, the average occupancy rate of daycare centers dropped from 84.3% to 68.8%, and the number of daycare centers decreased from 256 to 159.

The district plans to invest 560 million KRW in the "Teacher-to-Child Ratio Improvement Project" to reduce childcare teachers' workload and enhance childcare quality. While Seoul City supports teacher salaries for selected classes in this project, the district provides operating expenses for the selected classes.

For each daycare teacher, the legal child ratios are reduced as follows: 0-year-old class from 3 to 2 children, disabled children’s class from 3 to 2, and 3-year-old class from 15 to 12. Operating expenses equivalent to the reduced childcare fees are supported accordingly. The target classes have been expanded beyond Seoul City's support, which only covers 0-year-old and 3-year-old classes.

Budget for creating a higher-quality childcare environment has also been included. The budget for daycare center heating and cooling expenses has been increased by 50% compared to this year. Additional budgets have been allocated for hiring one more substitute cook and for improving aging facilities in private and home daycare centers.

Oh Eon-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu, stated, "Due to low birth rates, the number of children has decreased, making it difficult to operate daycare centers. We will provide unwavering childcare services through timely and appropriate budget allocation and policy implementation."

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