What Is the Secret Behind the Positive Response to Yeongdeungpo-gu Joint Childcare 'Moa Daycare Center Operation'?

[Seoul District News] Yeongdeungpo-gu Expands 'Seoul-style Moa Daycare Centers' from 8 to 13 in 2nd Year & Forms 3-5 Daycare Communities to Reduce Care Gaps, Enhance Expertise & Cuts Costs by 42% via Group Purchasing, Improving Programs and Parent Satisfaction

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) announced that through cooperative childcare, it has reduced operating costs for daycare centers and improved the quality of childcare services, achieving results that satisfy both daycare centers and parents.

Now in its second year of promoting the ‘Seoul-type Moa Daycare Center,’ the district expanded participation from 2 communities and 8 daycare centers last year to 3 communities and 13 daycare centers this year, focusing on spreading cooperative childcare.

The ‘Seoul-type Moa Daycare Center’ is a new childcare model where 3 to 5 adjacent public, private, and home daycare centers form a childcare community to share childcare programs, enrollment, teaching materials, and supplies as if they were a single daycare center.

This approach avoids excessive competition among daycare centers, addresses disparities in childcare supply and demand, and uses childcare resources efficiently, ultimately enhancing the quality of childcare services.

Following last year’s pilot projects in ▲ Mullae-dong area (Mokhwa Village, Mullae-dong, Mullae Xi, Haengbok Dream Daycare Centers) and ▲ Yangpyeong-dong area (Neulhaerang, Yangpyeong 2-dong, Bandi, Hansarang Daycare Centers), this year the ▲ Dangsan-dong area (Dangsan 2-dong Central I-Park Byeolha, Dangsan 2-dong Eunsol, Nam Seoul, Yeongseong, Cheongdam Montessori Daycare Centers) was newly selected as a Moa Daycare Center community.

The biggest change is that childcare programs, which were difficult to implement in small daycare centers due to cost and staffing issues, have been diversely tried, raising the level of childcare services in private and home daycare centers within the community.

Moa Daycare Centers reduced costs by about 42% through joint purchases of teaching materials, toys, and vehicle rentals, and each community operated distinctive programs such as ▲ ‘Moa Art Museum’ using recycled materials ▲ ‘Da(sa)rang Bazaar’ to support single-parent families ▲ ‘Earth Task Force EM Mudball Making’ for river water quality improvement ▲ and ‘Bridge On Ensemble,’ a concert by disabled string instrument players.

Additionally, on December 7-8, the Smile Mullae community plans to donate proceeds from the flea market held in October and donations collected by children in ‘Love Piggy Banks’ to the Mullae-dong Resident Center and Singil Comprehensive Social Welfare Center respectively, to support a warm winter in the local community. (Photo)

Directors and teachers participating in Moa Daycare Centers meet at least once or twice a month to develop joint childcare programs, share information among daycare centers, provide childcare consulting in ecology and play, and enhance childcare expertise through human rights education and calligraphy talent donations.

In particular, to resolve waiting list issues, six admissions adjustments were made through sharing regular and current enrollment among daycare centers within the community, and one daycare center saw its enrollment rate increase by about 11.5%, from 73.1% to 84.6%, after joining the Moa Daycare Center.

The district is promoting a pre-incubation project to expand Moa Daycare Centers. Three communities?Dorim area, Singil area, and Daerim area?with 12 daycare centers are voluntarily cooperating and forming community bonds to participate in the 2023 Seoul-type Moa Daycare Center program.

Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, stated, “In order to proactively respond to environmental changes such as low birth rates and decreasing enrollment, cooperative childcare where public and private sectors share and grow together is necessary. We hope for continuous interest and active participation in Moa Daycare Centers so that children can receive equal and high-quality childcare services through cooperation and complementarity among daycare centers.”