Conversion of More Than 34 Out of 216 Private Sites Planned by Next Year
Support for Apartment Common Facility Improvement Costs and Guarantee of Existing Manager's Term
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is strengthening public childcare by converting private daycare centers located in apartment complexes into public daycare centers.
According to the city on the 26th, the conversion targets are 216 private daycare centers within apartment complexes with more than 300 households that were established before September 2019. The plan is to convert at least 34 of these by next year to raise the number of public daycare centers to above the national average.
As of July, the proportion of public daycare centers among all daycare centers in the Incheon area is 13.3%, which is below the national average of 15.6%. Additionally, the percentage of children attending daycare who use public daycare centers is 18.8%, also below the national average of 22.9%.
Regarding the existing methods of expanding public daycare centers such as new construction and long-term leasing, new construction costs an average of 1.5 billion KRW and takes 2 to 3 years to complete. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s selection for expanding long-term leases is limited to one site per year.
Accordingly, Incheon City has decided to accelerate the conversion of private daycare centers within apartment complexes into public daycare centers, considering budget savings and project speed.
The city plans to support facility improvement costs such as senior citizen centers, children's playgrounds, and libraries in apartment complexes where private daycare centers are converted into public ones.
Also, public daycare centers converted from private ones will be provided incentives such as a guaranteed 5-year term for directors, employment succession for staff, and improved treatment.
An official from Incheon City stated, "We will prioritize the conversion of private daycare centers in Michuhol, Bupyeong, Gyeyang, and Seo-gu areas where public daycare centers are insufficient, and prioritize admission for residents' children to increase satisfaction among residents."
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