Dobong-gu with No Worries About Gap Care, Seoul's First After-School ‘Elementary Care Bus Tayo’ Operation
From May 8 to July 18, a 45-seat elementary care bus operates every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
Targeting about 200 elementary students from 12 elementary schools who need after-school care
Various after-school programs utilizing out-of-school educational spaces such as ballet, futsal, golf, cooking, and crafts are offered
Dobong-gu (Mayor Oh Eon-seok) announced that starting May 8, in celebration of Family Month in May, it began operating the Dobong ‘Elementary Care Bus Tayo’ for elementary students who need after-school care.
The Dobong ‘Elementary Care Bus Tayo’ is Seoul’s first practical public care project by a district that provides care programs utilizing out-of-school educational spaces and especially supports mobility for elementary students with limited transportation options through a shuttle bus.
The care programs are operated four days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) from 1:30 PM to 6 PM for about 200 elementary students from 12 local elementary schools, offering ▲golf ▲ballet ▲futsal ▲cooking and crafts in various educational spaces outside of school.
In particular, the golf, futsal, and ballet programs are courses that are difficult to access through existing after-school programs inside schools, providing students with special interests and talents the opportunity to develop their skills while establishing a program-type care model utilizing out-of-school educational spaces.
A district official stated, “Students who fail the lottery for after-school care classrooms inside schools or who are not accepted for after-school classes cannot be accommodated within the school, and parents who need after-school care express difficulties because they cannot personally handle transportation to out-of-school programs,” adding, “This connection support to out-of-school educational programs through the ‘Elementary Care Bus Tayo’ will provide high-quality integrated education and care services to parents of lower-grade elementary students who need after-school care.”
A parent who used the care bus Tayo on May 8 said, “One supervisor is assigned for every 4 to 5 students, and since Dobong-gu directly manages safety, I felt reassured leaving my children in their care.”
Oh Eon-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu, said, “Through the operation of the Care Bus Tayo, we expect to provide various educational opportunities linked to local educational resources to parents with elementary school children while also reducing the burden of private education expenses.”
This Dobong ‘Elementary Care Bus Tayo’ project was selected through the Seoul Metropolitan Government-District Education Cooperation Support Project contest and will focus more intensively on the summer vacation period when demand for gap care and emergency care increases.
Dobong-gu is the first local government nationwide to directly operate after-school programs inside schools and currently operates them in 16 out of 21 (public) elementary schools, leading the way in after-school care.
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