‘Guro-type Childcare System’ Awarded the Minister of Education Prize

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The ‘Guro-type Childcare System’ has been recognized by the government for its excellence.

Guro District (Mayor Lee Seong) announced on the 22nd that it was selected as an ‘Outstanding Institution for the 2020 Full-day Care Policy Promotion’ by the Ministry of Education and received the Minister of Education Award.

This commendation was established to discover institutions that contributed to building a full-day care system and strengthening policy substance, and to widely publicize excellent cases. The award was jointly presented to the basic local government and the relevant education support office, with Guro District sharing the honor with the Seoul Southern Education Support Office.

Guro District was recognized for its efforts to eliminate blind spots in elementary school care, including the establishment of the ‘Guro-type Childcare System’.

One of Mayor Lee Seong’s key pledges during his 7th term is the ‘Guro-type Childcare System,’ a project that creates full-day care centers by utilizing community spaces such as small libraries and village vitality centers. The idea started from the concept of enabling local residents to directly care for children in spaces close to home and where many residents gather. It has received very positive evaluations from both parents and children by providing various programs in a more comfortable and homely atmosphere.

Starting with 9 centers in January last year, there are currently 27 full-day care centers in operation.

Guro District is also working hard to expand the ‘Our Neighborhood Care Centers’ to establish a more thorough care system. Our Neighborhood Care Centers are projects jointly promoted by Seoul City and autonomous districts, providing universal and regular care services. Guro District opened 2 centers in 2019 and 11 centers in 2020.

As a result of these efforts, the Guro Convergence-type Our Neighborhood Care Center was awarded the grand prize in the ‘2020 Excellent Operation Evaluation of Together Care Centers’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

In a contest conducted by Seoul City targeting 25 autonomous districts, Guro District was selected as a ‘Focused Support District for Our Neighborhood Care Centers’ and secured a care project budget of 6.2 billion KRW.

A Guro District official said, “We are pleased that the efforts to build a seamless full-day care system have led to valuable results,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to create a care environment where children are happy and parents can feel at ease.”