2018 Daegu City Pilot 'Open-type Private Kindergarten' Similar to Model
Benchmarked by Ministry of Education... This Year, Only Daegu Narae Kindergarten
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] The first 'public-type kindergarten' supported by the Ministry of Education at the level of public kindergartens has been established in Daegu. It is a concept similar to the 'open-type private kindergarten' first attempted by Daegu City in 2018, but it differs in that it receives direct support from the Ministry of Education rather than local governments.
On the morning of the 23rd, the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it signed a business agreement for the 'public-type kindergarten' with the private Narae Kindergarten (Igok-dong, Dalseo-gu) at the Office of Education to ensure transparent and sound kindergarten operation.
The 'public-type kindergarten' project aims to minimize parents' educational expenses and secure publicness by providing administrative and financial support at the level of public kindergartens to private kindergartens. The Ministry of Education benchmarked the model of the 'open-type private kindergarten' first attempted in Daegu and Seoul in 2018 and has been applying this model since last year.
Since December last year, the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education has held explanatory sessions on the operation of public-type kindergartens for private kindergartens, accepted applications, and conducted evaluations, finally selecting Narae Kindergarten in February this year. Nationwide, Narae Kindergarten is the only one selected as a 'public-type kindergarten' this year.
Having overcome difficulties such as school opening delays due to COVID-19 and completed the transition to a corporate kindergarten, Narae Kindergarten will receive financial support at the level of public kindergartens from the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education for three years starting from the 2020 academic year, including staff salaries, kindergarten operating expenses, and educational environment improvement costs. Accordingly, parents who used to bear about 180,000 KRW per month in educational expenses now only need to pay about 20,000 KRW for transportation fees as Narae Kindergarten was selected as a public-type kindergarten.
Located in Igok-dong, Dalseo-gu, Narae Kindergarten, with four classes (50 students), started operating as a public-type kindergarten from March and secured publicness in its operation by converting to a school corporation, appointing two open directors, and utilizing EduFine.
The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education regularly provides consulting on the overall operation of the kindergarten, including curriculum (after-school programs), finance, and accounting, to ensure that Narae Kindergarten operates according to the original purpose of the public-type kindergarten, and periodically evaluates compliance with the agreement.
Superintendent Kang Eun-hee said, "The public-type kindergarten, one of the models to strengthen the publicness of kindergartens, is a kindergarten that can leverage the strengths of both public and private kindergartens," adding, "We will actively strive to ensure that public-type kindergartens can establish themselves as an alternative to expanding national and public kindergartens by maintaining the founding ideals and characteristics of private kindergartens while enhancing transparency and soundness."
Meanwhile, the 'open-type private kindergarten' attempted by Daegu City in 2018 selected Wizsoup Kindergarten in Dong-gu, which has been receiving a budget of 1.2 billion KRW until next year. At that time, the parents' burden was 260,000 KRW, but after conversion to the open-type, it was drastically reduced to less than 20,000 KRW.
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