Seoul City Provides 'Customized Teaching Materials and Educational Tools' to 37,000 Children with Disabilities, Multicultural Backgrounds, and Foreigners

Approximately 500 Million KRW Provided for Teaching Materials and Educational Tools at 527 Locations
Customized Teaching Materials and Tools Supporting Cognitive and Language Development for Children with Disabilities and Cultural Education for Multicultural and Foreign Children

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 8th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will support the purchase of customized teaching materials and educational tools for daycare centers so that 37,000 children with disabilities, multicultural backgrounds, and foreign children can have childcare environments tailored to their respective characteristics.

Seoul plans to invest 492 million KRW and distribute it to 527 daycare centers through autonomous districts. Unlike general teaching materials and educational tools, daycare centers attended by children with disabilities or multicultural and foreign children require specialized teaching materials and tools suited to the children's developmental status and the characteristics of the daycare center, many of which are high-priced products.

For children with disabilities, special teaching materials and tools such as tactile boards and auditory recognition tools necessary for cognitive, language, and sensory development are required. For multicultural and foreign children, cultural education teaching materials and tools such as multicultural storybooks, costumes, and world maps for children are needed to help them acquire Korean and global cultures in a balanced way.

The target recipients of the customized teaching materials and educational tools support include a total of 527 daycare centers: 412 specialized and integrated daycare centers for children with disabilities in Seoul, 89 multicultural integrated daycare centers, and 37 daycare centers with foreign children enrolled.

This support for purchasing teaching materials and educational tools is part of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's childcare policy direction to create a trustworthy childcare environment and is an aspect of customized childcare services. Seoul plans to continue providing detailed support for optimized childcare activities suited to various daycare center environments.

Seoul expects that, amid the extended indoor childcare hours due to COVID-19, purchasing customized teaching materials and educational tools will effectively support more substantial childcare for children with disabilities and multicultural and foreign children.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, said, “We decided to support customized teaching materials and educational tools to aid the cognitive and language development of children with disabilities and the diverse cultural education of multicultural and foreign children,” adding, “We will continue to carefully observe the difficulties in the field and reflect the voices of childcare sites to prioritize childcare activities tailored to the environment of each daycare center.”